Lovely War

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Overture, Chapters 1-3

Act I, Chapters 4-26

Act II, Chapters 27-59

Act III, Chapters 60-91

Act IV, Chapters 92-112

Act V, Chapters 113-124

Exit Music, Chapters 125-126

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Exit Music, Chapters 125-126Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Exit Music, Chapter 125 Summary: “December 1942—Closing Arguments”

The court case ends. Hephaestus reluctantly releases Ares, who departs. Apollo and Hades depart also. Hephaestus and Aphrodite are left alone; Hephaestus contemplates the pointlessness of his court case, reflecting that bringing Aphrodite to trial for infidelity has achieved nothing in repairing their relationship. He reflects aloud that he understands that death and frailty are essential for true love, and that therefore Olympians are unable to engage in genuine love.

He reflects on Aphrodite’s beauty, which is “eternally beyond his reach” (446). Making a last attempt to win her over using her own logic, Hephaestus points out that she is far from perfect—choosing men badly and being vulnerable to the agonies of mortal life. He goes on to point out that he, too, is broken, with a twisted and shattered frame from being flung from Olympus to land upon the earth. He asks Aphrodite, “How about me?” to which she replies, “I say it’s about time” (447).

Exit Music, Chapter 126 Summary: “December 1942—About Time (Part II)”

Aphrodite reveals that her affair with Ares was a ploy to attract Hephaestus’s attention. She complains that Hephaestus never truly wanted her, that she was a reminder of his brokenness: “the Olympian charity case” (449). Aphrodite admits that all she wants is for Hephaestus to know her and love her, and to let her love him. She knew that her story, told through the trial, would reveal which god (Ares or Hephaestus) had a loving heart. Aphrodite suggests, when Hephaestus asks what happens next, that they should meet for tea and lemon cake. They kiss.

Exit Music, Chapters 125-126 Analysis

Aphrodite explains to Hephaestus her rationale behind the court case, which she orchestrated to confirm that Hephaestus has a loving heart and to illustrate to him how ardently she wishes to love and be loved. She knew that, between Ares and Hephaestus, “how each of you responded would reveal to anyone with the brain of a goldfish which of the two of you has a loving heart” (450). Ares unwittingly illustrates his shallowness by asking Aphrodite, incredulously, “You’re the goddess of beauty. […] Why would you ever trade your looks—your perfection—for her mortality? Her scars?” (427). Hades cryptically responds, “We see what we’re capable of seeing,” implying that Ares is incapable of understanding the worth of Hazel and James’s love (427).

By contrast, Hephaestus tells Aphrodite that he understands that “love demands brokenness,” illustrating that (unlike Ares) he is moved by the mortals’ love stories and understands the broader point Aphrodite is trying to make through her tales (446). Ares is characterized as the epitome of male perfection, yet Aphrodite prefers Hephaestus, with his “crooked form,” “balding head,” “bristly beard,” and “gnarled hands” because he has a loving heart and is imperfect, and therefore capable of loving and being loved (450). Hephaestus was ashamed of his broken form next to the flawless goddess of beauty, but Aphrodite proves through her stories of human love that brokenness is essential. She uses the metaphor of mortar filling in cracks in a building to illustrate to Hephaestus that imperfection provides strength in love, rather than undermining it. Hephaestus responds with a metaphor in turn, that “scarring makes a broken bone harder, stronger than it was before,” illustrating his comprehension of her message (446).

The love that exists between two imperfect beings is presented as redemptive and transcendent. The reconciliation between Aphrodite and Hephaestus is implied in their passionate kiss. Aphrodite’s suggestion that they could have “tea and lemon cake” is a clear reference to James and Hazel’s story; it is implied that James and Hazel’s unconditional love for one another will act as a model for Aphrodite and Hephaestus’s relationship going forward (450).