The Perfect Couple

“Viewed from a distance, Nantucket Island is everything Karen Otis dreamed it would be: tasteful, charming, nautical, classic.”

As the ferry carrying Karen and Bruce closes in on Nantucket shore, the coastline appears almost idyllic to Karen, symbolizing the health and stability she currently seeks. Karen’s impression of Nantucket shows that appearances can be misleading, because the tasteful and classic façade of the island will soon be marred by a tragic death.

“‘These families must have fifty million dollars each,’ Karen decides. ‘At least. And how does someone, anyone, make that much money?’”

Karen’s reflection highlights the text’s theme The Privilege and Limitations of Wealth and Status, incorporating the motif of symbols of status and luxury. The difference between the one per cent and the rest of humanity is evident. As Karen calculates the cost of Nantucket waterfront homes, she is struck by the sheer magnitude of money such homes must require. While families like the Winburys own beachfront estates with guest houses in Nantucket and penthouses in Manhattan, families like the Otises have to scrape by and take loans to cover college tuition for their children and medical funds for health emergencies.

“Who wants to see age descend on a woman? No one.”

Karen’s statement about Greer’s author website photo captures the gender dynamics and gendered expectations at work in the novel. These factors are important threads in the theme of The Dichotomy Between Public and Private Personas as well as throughout the narrative more generally. Greer has left up a much younger picture of herself. Karen understands the compulsion; she knows the world is unkind about the natural ageing process in women.

“She jumps, startled. Or maybe she’s just pretending. She’s too pretty to be innocent.”

Tag’s description of Merritt establishes him as an unreliable narrator. He dismisses the fact that he startles Merritt, even supposing that Merritt’s getting startled is a provocative act. The statement that Merritt is too pretty to be innocent reflects Tag’s unsavory sexualization of the young woman.

“She’s young, beautiful, cool, sexy. And edgy. She’s an interesting match for Celeste, who doesn’t have an edgy thing about her.”

While Tag hypersexualizes Merritt, he goes to the other extreme with Celeste, deeming her boring and asexual. This assessment shows that Tag is not a perceptive person; he judges people by how he can use them, rather than by who they are. The irony is in the depth of Tag’s failed judgement. He thinks individualistic Celeste is not edgy, and that by virtue of appearing cool and sexy, Merritt has an edge. In truth, Merritt is as vulnerable as Celeste, and Celeste is as edgy as Merritt in her own way.

“But then Tag calls upon one of his favorite sayings, Perception is reality.”

Tag’s mantra is convenient and helps him excuse his actions to himself. As long as Tag appears innocent, he believes he is innocent. Tag’s skewed ethics highlight the text’s themes of The Illusion of the Perfect Family and The Dichotomy Between Public and Private Personas. In a sense, the novel even proves him correct: In a world obsessed with social media and surfaces, performance is often deemed reality.

“It quickly becomes obvious that Merritt knows nothing about wine, not even the basics […] How can she be an influencer of culture when she doesn’t even have a basic vocabulary of wine?”

While Tag describes his wife Greer as a snob, his statement reveals he is as much of a snob as Greer. Since wine, especially vintage and bespoke wine, is a status symbol, anyone who does not understand wine is deemed uncultured in a status-obsessed world.

“Karen would like to pretend that the money doesn’t matter, but it does.”

Karen’s statement about Benji being a good match for Celeste illustrates the theme of The Privilege and Limitations of Wealth, in part by marking the privileges that those without wealth lack. While Benji’s wealth should not make him attractive to Celeste, Karen knows that wealth eases certain aspects of life. To say money does not matter may be easy for the super-rich, but for those who have struggled with making ends meet, money signifies choice and freedom.

“There is nothing more terrible, she had decided, than the ferocity with which humans can love.”

Karen, Celeste, and Bruce represent an extremely close and largely happy nuclear family. On Nantucket, Karen reflects that their closed bubble is soon to be broken because of her terminal sickness. The fear of losing her family is greater than that of losing her life, which makes Karen feel that love is an all-consuming emotion. Love and loyalty play out in different ways in the novel. While Karen is ready to die to make her family’s life easy, Greer is ready to keep grave secrets to protect her own.

“Also, she doesn't want to hear anyone else's inspiring story about a sister-in-law who went through exactly the same thing and is now running ultramarathons.”

In a rare moment of vulnerable honesty, Celeste tells Benji about her mother’s cancer diagnosis. This passage notes Celeste’s reflection on why she does not share this information often: people make such confessions frequently about themselves in return or suggest empty stories of hope. What families of the sick would want is just for someone to listen to their story quietly and with empathy.

“There’s nobility in that […] a nobility and an ethic that’s missing when one lives in an apartment that could easily cost seven or eight thousand dollars a month, paid for by one’s parents.”

The more Celeste learns about Benji’s privilege, the more she tends to judge him. Celeste can sense that there is something too convenient and corrupting about living in an expensive apartment funded by one’s parents, like Benji does. Benji could easily refuse the offer on matter of principle. That Celeste continues to date Benji despite these views shows that she is tempted by the allure of his wealth to a degree and is also ignoring the voice of her conscience.

“My parents are threatening to buy me a brownstone uptown.”

Benji’s casual statement is meant to be breezy and funny, but it actually betrays his enormous privilege. By using the hyperbolic verb “threatening,” Benji tries to downplay the fact that his parents will soon buy him a house on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Yet, as Celeste notes, there is no distracting from the fact that Benji’s parents can buy him a house with breathtaking, casual ease.

“‘I’m going to do right by you,’ Nick says, ‘Let’s figure this out.’”

Except for Celeste and her family, most other characters, especially the Winburys, seem unmoved by Merritt’s death. This callousness symbolizes the corruption of the Winbury family. It is left to the police officers and the outsiders to present moral fortitude for Merritt. When Detective Nick visits Merritt’s room as part of his investigation, he is struck by the unfairness of her death and promises to do the right thing by her. Nick’s morally upright behavior only serves to highlight the compromised stance of the Winburys.

“‘Young, Fabulous, and Broke,’ she said. ‘Which describes me.’ Her smile faded. ‘Well, two out of three, any way.’”

Merritt’s remarks to Chloe shows the collapsing dichotomy between her private and public personas. Merritt still looks cool and nonchalant on the outside, but her enigmatic statement implies this personality is an illusion. She is young and broke, but far from fabulous. The reference to the trendy fashion brand illustrates the text’s motif of status symbols.

“Here is Celeste floating on her back, staring at the stars, thinking that outer space is a mystery but not as much of a mystery as the universe of human emotion.”

Celeste’s thoughts reflect the narrative’s position that human emotions and relationships are inherently mysterious and irreducible. This position unfolds in the context of the investigation of an unnatural death, showing that the mystery of human dynamics is as difficult to parse as that of the death itself.

“No amount of money or logistics is worth a lifetime of settling.”

Karen may initially have been tempted to tell Celeste to marry for stability and wealth rather than follow her heart, but her daughter’s obvious sadness makes Karen reverse her position. Karen wants to ask Celeste to call off the wedding, even though it is an expensive affair. Karen’s choice shows she is a parent who prioritizes her daughter’s emotional wellbeing and also someone who values principles over convenience.

“There is no such thing as a perfect couple.”

When Karen overhears the conversation between Tag and Bruce in Tag’s study, she realizes that Bruce has been keeping his intense crush on a male coworker a secret from her. Though devastated at first, she also understands Bruce’s dilemma. She forgives Bruce because he has not acted on his feelings for his coworker. Her feelings make Karen realize that she and Bruce love each other, but are not a perfect couple, building on the theme of The Illusion of the Perfect Family. In fact, the perfect couple is a myth; accordingly, Celeste should neither idolize Bruce and Karen nor chase an illusion.

“You’re so normal and down-to-earth that you’re exotic.”

Both Shooter and Benji refer to Celeste as exotic on separate occasions. However, while Benji sees Celeste as exotic because of her oddness in his world, an oddness he wants to capture for his own, Shooter thinks Celeste’s realness is what paradoxically makes her appear otherworldly. Benji’s attitude toward Celeste is more possessive, while Shooter seems to see Celeste for who she is.

“The food is artwork […] Benji ordered a wine that is apparently so rare and amazing it made the sommelier stammer. Celeste does not care. Shooter’s absence is more powerful than Benji’s presence.”

Love is a powerful force in the world of the novel: Celeste has somewhat been under the spell of Benji’s wealth till this point, but her love for Shooter breaks the spell all of a sudden. Every luxury to which Benji treats her on the night he proposes to her seems meaningless in Shooter’s absence.

“They may think that the intensity of their desires justifies their actions, but that is morally convenient. Celeste isn’t religious, but she does have an immutable sense of right and wrong.”

Infidelity is a recurrent pattern in the novel, with Tag having an affair with Merritt and Thomas with Featherleigh. Most of the married people of these pairs justify their affairs (conducted without the consent of their partners) as the result of intense passion. Celeste’s refusal to act on her attraction to Shooter, however, shows that infidelity is not an irresistible compulsion but a choice.

“Novelists are notorious liars […] They lie for a living. They make up stories. So, it stands to reason that this tendency runs over into their personal lives.”

Featherleigh’s assessment of Greer, though born out of dislike, is surprisingly accurate. Greer does want to control the narrative and force reality into her mold. When she tells Chief Kapenash about the missing pillbox, Greer introduces the fiction that she offered Merritt a pill on a previous visit to help her sleep. Greer treats Merritt’s death investigation as a murder mystery she is plotting, rearranging information to let her family off the hook.

“Shooter Uxley has envied Benjamin Winbury since the day they met at the St. George’s School freshman year, and although Shooter has always longed to have something, anything, that Benji couldn’t have, all that comes to mind now are the infinite kindnesses that Benji has shown him.”

Celeste has wondered if Shooter’s interest in her is inspired by his envy of Benji; this admission reveals there is some truth to Celeste’s doubt. However, like all relationships in the novel, Shooter’s relationships with Celeste and Benji are more complicated. Shooter genuinely loves both characters. Though Shooter envies Benji for his perfect family, he also looks up to him. By the end of the novel, Shooter realizes that his affection for Benji trumps his own selfishness.

“Thank God Benji is a Garrison, through and through.”

Just as a battle for Celeste’s soul has been waged, a similar tussle has occurred within Benji in the narrative. Benji has wanted to establish himself as more idealistic than the rest of his family, an intent evident in his choice of Celeste as a life partner. However, Merritt’s death, Celeste’s cancelation of the wedding, and news of Tag’s infidelity make Benji realize he needs to pick a side. Like his mother, Greer Garrison, Benji picks the side of the status quo and family loyalty over change and individualism. As Greer concludes, Benji has taken after her and will be the inheritor of her traditionalism, loyalty, and constancy.