Under the Whispering Door

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-9

Chapters 10-13

Chapters 14-17

Chapter 18-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Book Club Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Wallace’s Hook

The large silver hook and cable that connect Wallace Price to his Ferryman are symbols for both a connection to humanity and Wallace’s connection to Hugo Freeman. After death, all humans obtain a hook that only they and their Ferryperson can see. Mei calls it “a connection” that “keeps [them] grounded” (57), and she means this literally and figuratively. Without the hook, ghosts literally begin to float upward, getting lost in the sky or, in the tea shop, going through the whispering door, which is located in the ceiling. When Wallace sacrifices his hook to Cameron (who had broken his when he left the tea shop), he is only brought back down to Earth by the love of his friends and Apollo’s dog leash. The hook, serving as a connection to humanity, is the missing piece Cameron needs to come back to himself, and Wallace’s sacrifice gives Cameron the chance to finally, properly, cross over to the afterlife. Hugo is able to form as many hooks as he wants, as is demonstrated in the Epilogue when he pulls another out of his chest to give to a Husk. This suggests that as an excessively empathetic human and Ferryman, Hugo is himself symbolically connected with humanity and keeping others grounded.

Wallace’s hook specifically highlights his connection with Hugo. Wallace is surprised when the first thing he feels from the hook is relief and comfort, and he continues to get this feeling in his chest when he is near or nearing Hugo, as if the cable that connects them is pulling them together. At times he feels the hook become warm or move when he sees Hugo, and other times it twists and stills when he feels Hugo is in danger. This suggests the hook acts as Wallace’s metaphorical heart while he is a ghost. When he first sees Hugo, Wallace realizes that the cable extends into precisely where Hugo’s heart would be, foreshadowing their inseparability and the love they will come to have for one another.

Discussions surrounding the heart are frequent in Under the Whispering Door, especially regarding the deficiencies of Wallace’s. His lack of care or concern for others in life is a major topic of conversation amongst the characters and the starting point for his development. The pangs he notices when firing Patricia lead up to his fatal heart attack, but they also foreshadow his later regret over the situation. The purity of Hugo’s heart is also heavily emphasized, as his calmness and empathy contrast Wallace’s initial coldness. Wallace is also able to see what Hugo is lacking, and when Hugo needs care himself, allowing the two to balance each other out. The hook and cable connecting their hearts highlight the connection between Hugo and Wallace and impacts how they care for each other and those around them.

The Tea Shop

Upon first seeing Charon’s Crossing Tea and Treats, Wallace is surprised that the building is standing, let alone livable, and even more surprised when the inside feels welcoming and homey. The Manager later echoes this thought, saying:

It doesn’t seem like much from the outside, does it? A queer house made up of many different ideas. They should clash. They should crumble to the foundation. It shouldn’t stand as it does, and yet you don’t fear the ceiling collapsing onto your head (445).

This description of Hugo’s tea shop represents several other concepts and relationships within the novel, showing the versatility and resonance of this symbol. Each floor and room of the tea shop seems to have a different design that seems incompatible with the previous one, which reflects the wildly varying personalities of the people who frequent it. Through discussions with Mei, Hugo, and Nelson, as well as observations of the living patrons of the tea shop, Wallace is exposed to many different ways of thinking and living. Over time, he learns how to coexist with perspectives that challenge what he once believed to be fact, and he finds his place among the people who hold those perspectives as he grows to love them. Like the tea shop, the found family in Under the Whispering Door has a strong foundation and does not easily collapse due to the care that all members of this family give to one another.

The tea shop’s name, Charon’s Crossing, references the Greek mythological Ferryman who took souls from the world of the living to the world of the dead. Hugo, as a modern-day representation of Charon, acknowledges that the allusion is not subtle. The tea shop itself is precarious and hovers between two worlds and under the titular whispering door.

Like the Manager suggests, the principles of life and death should, due to the wide range of beliefs among humans, clash and crumble, like the tea shop appears on the verge of doing. However, though all characters question the order of the universe over the course of the story, they never fear it collapsing. They have faith that the tea shop, and the patchwork family they’ve created within it, will shelter them.

Listening

The motif of listening (or not listening) is frequently addressed in Under the Whispering Door. Throughout the novel, the act of intentionally listening is constantly paired with the development of trust between characters, and listening becomes symbolic of trusting and believing for those in the tea shop.

Mei experiences several instances of not being listened to or being discredited throughout the book and in her past. Even Hugo, who cares deeply for Mei, does not listen to her when she attempts to explain how cruel Desdemona’s actions are. Hugo is too determined to see the good in all people and to please everyone that comes through his door, to the point where it becomes actively detrimental. One of Wallace’s first acts of great empathy is standing up for Mei in this situation, as he asks Hugo why he didn’t listen and show his faith in Mei. This is especially notable from Wallace, who, in addition to being notoriously unempathetic in life, particularly disliked Mei early in the story.

A distraught Alan Flynn explains that no one listened to his cries for help as he bled to death. This experience haunts Alan and affects all of his feelings and actions while he is under Hugo’s care. Alan feels even worse when he believes Mei isn’t listening to him when he asks to return to his life; he also accuses Hugo of not listening, signifying that he lost any trust he had in Hugo or the process of his transition. Wallace initially felt similarly unheard, but as he settled into his new reality, he began to adapt. Alan never reaches this point. Instead, he weaponizes his power as a ghost and forces living people in the tea shop to hear his voice, which traumatizes an important, frequent customer of Hugo’s and causes the Manager to intervene. While Alan insisted that no one in the tea shop listened to him, he refused to listen to them as well, leading to an unhappy resolution in both directions.

Time and again, Cameron is ignored, as Hugo believes there is no way to save him and that Cameron, as a Husk, has simply become a mindless “monster.” Cameron has to force Wallace to listen by touching him and showing Wallace his thoughts. Only then do they realize he can be restored to himself. The way Wallace speaks on Cameron’s behalf shows his major character development, and it is representative of The Importance of Connection.

At the end of the novel, the group is only able to resurrect Wallace because they force the Manager to listen. The Manager is not human, and the characters in the tea shop are only able to reason with him by taking an original, persuasive stance that draws his interest. The Manager, in turn, asks the whispers behind the door to listen to him.

The whispers from the door are also connected to the motif of Listening. Ghosts hear them more and more as they get closer to crossing over, while the non-ghost characters can’t hear them at all. Nelson, who has lingered for a long time to watch over his grandson, denies being able to hear the voices, though Wallace suspects he is lying, as Nelson himself has no unfinished business. Nelson only starts to listen to their call after he decides it is time for him to move on, showing the faith he has in the next phase of his existence.

Overall, the act of listening is an act of faith, one that shows the trust (or lack thereof) that characters have for one another.