The Golden Couple

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1, Chapter 7

Part 1, Chapters 8-14

Part 2, Chapters 15-24

Part 2, Chapters 25-31

Part 3, Chapters 32-44

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

The Cub Scout Rope

Bennett’s Cub Scout rope plays a pivotal part in the plot, as it’s revealed that this is how Matthew first suspected Marissa’s infidelity: When Skip came by the Bishops’ house on the night of the affair, he tied a sailor’s knot in the rope, which tipped off Matthew. In this sense, the rope is a tangible symbol of Marissa’s betrayal of Matthew, speaking to the themes of Loyalty Versus Betrayal. The rope also externalizes the fact that the affair occurred in the Bishops’ home. The fact that it’s a toy for Bennett, Matthew and Marissa’s child, shows that it symbolizes the betrayal that divides a marriage in a domestic space.

Ironically, the rope also symbolizes Matthew’s deceptive outer appearances. This becomes clear when Marissa finds the rope in Matthew’s desk drawer—the point at which she starts to realize that Matthew has known about Skip all along. Matthew saw the sailor’s knot and knew that Bennett couldn’t have tied it, but he knew who could’ve: Skip—whose name is short for “Skipper,” since Skip has such a love of sailboats. All in all, the Cub Spot rope is thus a symbol for the “golden couple” as a whole—it’s a twisted, terrible knot woven of Marissa’s betrayal and Matthew’s deceptive nature.

Acelia

The pharmaceutical company Acelia is a motif in the book. As a plot device, the authors use it to raise narrative tension by offering a threat to Avery’s safety. At the same time, it serves as a red herring, detracting attention from Matthew, the real threat of the book. However, Acelia as a motif also speaks to The Deceptive Nature of Appearances. A pharmaceutical company, Acelia is supposed to make medicines that treat the sick. However, in reality, the company is making medicines that may seriously harm and even kill people.

Acelia also refers to the book’s thematic treatment of Loyalty Versus Betrayal. This is evident in Finley’s character. Finley learned of Acelia’s dangerous medicine and betrayed her company’s confidentiality when she told Avery about it. However, Finley’s betrayal was done in the interests of public health. The authors use Finley (and Avery) as a case study for the treatment of whistleblowers.

The Bishops’ Couch

The Bishops’ couch is another thematic symbol, both of Loyalty Versus Betrayal (the couch itself was the site of Marissa’s marital infidelity) and of The Deceptive Nature of Appearances. Marissa is so concerned with presenting as the golden couple that she can’t stand the sight of anything that would suggest otherwise. Unable to endure the sight of the couch, Marissa purposefully stains it with a glass of red wine so that she can justify to Matthew replacing it with a new one. The authors present this as a superficial solution in line with the superficiality of the appearances of their relationship: “Erasing the physical link to that night, but not her traitorous memories of the illicit hours she’d spent on it with the man she’d invited into their home” (134). It is so important to her to at least remove the visual reminder of her betrayal from her sight that she goes ahead anyway.