54 pages • 1 hour read
John GrishamThe Partner
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1997A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Money
The $90 million is the symbol of greed and corruption that drives the story. The money moves through the story, corrupting everyone it touches. The symbol of money in the novel is connected to its forensic detail and the exploration of good, evil and temptation. The money was a vehicle for corruption from the very beginning. It came from the company that routinely cheated the government. Benny Aricia was always greedy for money and recognition. Tempted by greed, he framed his company for fraud and cheated the government. He then corrupted Patrick’s law firm and Senator Nye, who all want the money. The money then corrupted Patrick, who stole it from the thieves who stole it from other thieves. This cascade of money shows the contagion of greed and the prioritization of success and wealth above all else. The tracing of the money and its intangible nature as bank wires is a symbol of the intangible nature of moral values and the novel’s presentation of the $90 million as something which can disappear again and again creates irony about its hollow meaning.
Patrick’s plan to escape to freedom goes astray when he decides to also take the money. He was angry at the senior partners for plotting to cut him out of the deal, but even with the complicated motive of revenge, the attraction of the money was greed. He realizes early on that the money has compromised his initial desire for freedom. The moral arc of the story is Patrick realizing that he doesn’t need the money and would have been happier escaping without it. The bittersweet ending of Eva’s disappearance highlights the difficulty of judging whether she ever really loved him for himself. His wife Trudy also married him for money and status. Without money, Patrick will be able to look for love without worrying about this ulterior motive.
The Outlaw
Patrick’s character plays into the archetype of the heroic outlaw, a key motif of the heist genre. The outlaw is a cathartic figure who represents the things that, such narratives suggest, the reader secretly wishes they could do and get away with. By escaping the restraints of society and responsibility, exercising his feeling of revenge and greed and running away from the daily grind and an unhappy marriage, Patrick personifies the human urge for freedom. Patrick is clever and audacious and always seems one step ahead. The novel’s characters who don’t suffer from Patrick’s con admire him for this. They laugh at his freedom and wish him well, as the narrative suggests the reader will. The outlaw figure in literature traditionally battles oppressive or evil forces. This is true of Patrick who takes on both the criminal cabal and the heft of the prosecutorial system which intends to harm him. In both cases he faces the existential threat of death.
Brazil
Brazil represents escape and freedom. Patrick describes it as “paradise,” and he envisions himself living there without obligations or responsibilities like Adam in the garden of Eden. The symbol is further supported by the name of the woman he meets there: Eva (Eve). However, like the garden of Eden, Brazil is a temporary paradise and Patrick must soon face up to the consequences of his actions as a flawed, human character.
Identity
The motif of identity is linked to the theme of freedom. Patrick felt trapped in the identity of lawyer in a dishonest firm and husband to an unfaithful wife. He foresaw a future trapped in that identity, and it was unbearable. In response, he “killed” that identity and became Danilo Silva, an identity that came to seem more real to him than his former self. When all his troubles are resolved, Patrick becomes Patrick again, but a new Patrick really free of both his past lives.
Eva falls in love with Danilo, the identity of the romantic outlaw. As she comes to see the reality behind the fantasy and deals with the consequences of Patrick’s decisions, she grows disenchanted. The association with Patrick changes Eva’s identity. She was happy in the role of ambitious lawyer, then as the lover of an outlaw. As he draws her deeper into his life, she has to take on her own new identity as Leah Pirez. She finally assumes a third identity when she flees with the remaining fortune and becomes a wealthy woman alone in the world, an outlaw herself. Instead of playing a secondary role to Patrick, she can now be imagined as her own protagonist.
Family
The family motif applies the theme of Freedom and Meaning. Many of the characters are motivated by love of family, and the breakdown of family relationships signifies corruption. Patrick’s broken family was already a source of discontent and part of the force that drove him to his escape. His wishes for a strong family life: His escape fantasy includes having at least 10 children with Eva. Sandy and Huskey aren’t tempted by the prospect of an escape like Patrick’s because they have strong family bonds that give them a sense of meaning. Even Stephano is motivated by his wife’s feelings when they are disrupted by the FBI. Finally, Eva’s corruption breaks her relationship with her beloved father, who was the most important relationship in her life.
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