55 pages • 1 hour read
Anna QuindlenAfter Annie: A Novel
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A 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
Seasons
The changing seasons are a profound symbol representing mourning, rejuvenation, and the inexorable passage of time. Quindlen uses the shifting natural world to reflect the characters’ emotional and psychological states as they navigate their sorrow and recovery journey, come to terms with their loss, and find a way to balance their enduring sadness even as they embrace new beginnings. Using the seasons as a symbolic framework, Quindlen emphasizes the cyclical nature of existence through death, rebirth, and new life. Annie’s death occurs in winter, a season that is universally synonymous with dying and emotional darkness. The cold, barren landscape mirrors the characters’ emotional emptiness as they struggle to cope with their loss, and the brutality of winter’s chill makes their loss all the more painful as they try to make sense of life without Annie. Icicles cling to the funeral flowers, and the pall of winter’s dull grey mirrors Bill and the family’s mood as they trudge through their days, just going through the motions to stay alive.
In the spring, the season of renewal and rebirth, the characters take steps toward healing and resilience. As the natural world begins to awaken from its winter slumber, the characters also start to find hope and a sense of renewal. The blooming flowers and warmer weather symbolize the family’s gradual healing process as they recover from their grief. However, just as the tender spring buds are vulnerable to a late-season cold snap, so too are the characters vulnerable to waves of grief. Bill considers the metaphor himself, thinking, “Grief was like spring, maybe. You thought you were getting out from under it and then it came roaring back” (83). The narrative therefore stresses that grief, like seasonal weather, can be changeable, unpredictable, and often punishingly painful. Likewise, the summer season presents the family with abundant opportunities for growth and marks a period of new beginnings as they reinvent their identities and find a way to move on with their lives. By this stage, the characters have accepted Annie’s death enough to welcome the possibility of a new life, as evidenced by Bill’s relationship with Liz and Ali’s new friendships.
The story progresses into fall, a season that paves the way for the future as old leaves and flowers drop to make way for new life in the coming season. Fall is transformative for Bill as he realizes the necessity of reengaging with his family emotionally and as Annemarie falls to rock bottom in her relapse and discovers she is pregnant. The novel ends in February, but this one is markedly different from the February of the previous year. The author describes it as “[o]ne of those uncommon cheats of a February morning, unseasonably and unreasonably mild, with a whiff of April that the adults knew from experience would turn its back on you a day or two later with a hard freeze and a heavy snow” (259). Once again, nature’s inconsistency highlights the unavoidable inconstancy of life. The novel’s changing seasons reflect the characters’ journey through grief and toward eventual healing and renewal. However, although the novel spans a single year, the author does not suggest that the characters are fully healed. Instead, the seasonal motif underscores the truth that life, like the seasons, is fleeting and changeable. Like the natural world, the characters must learn to adapt to survive and thrive and greet the next season with optimistic hearts.
Annie’s Phone
For many people, their phone is a lifeline that allows them to remain connected to family and friends and bridge physical and emotional distances. After Annie’s death, Bill leaves her phone plugged in next to his bed, using it as a visual anchor to the memory of his wife’s presence. As the narrative states, “On her nightstand he could see a tiny red star, like a glowing kiss in the dark, the power light on her phone. It was plugged in all the time, his nightlight” (131). Similarly, Ali calls her mother’s phone to hear her voice on the outgoing message, and Annemarie calls Annie’s phone accidentally and sometimes leaves messages in a desperate attempt to regain the lifeline of communication with her friend. Annie’s phone therefore becomes a symbol of connection and communication, representing Annie’s enduring presence in the lives of those she left behind. With its full bank of messages, the phone becomes a tangible reminder of Annie’s impact on those around her, even after her death.
The Brown family’s fixation on Annie’s phone also demonstrates the common truth that when someone dies, their physical possessions become treasures, no matter how mundane such objects might be. In the modern era, cell phones have become sentimental mementos as they contain many elements connected to the person. Even though Annie is no longer physically present, her phone remains filled with messages, photos, and memories that remind Bill of her life and the love she shared with others. The phone becomes a sacred object cherished by the family to keep Annie’s memory alive, and as long as it remains plugged into the power cord, it acts as a lifeline to her spirit. However, as time passes, the phone loses its ability to comfort the grieving, and the characters eventually realize that speaking of Annie and sharing her memories is the best way to keep her spirit alive. Ali also receives a cell phone for her 14th birthday: a gift that her mother promised her before her death. Her new phone represents the memory of her mother’s promise and the promise of future memories to come as Ali uses it to connect with her new friends and stay connected with Miss Cruz. Ultimately, Bill keeps Annie’s phone plugged in, even after he begins dating Liz. Listening to Annie’s voicemail message helps him to understand why Liz isn’t right for him. His decision to keep Annie’s phone therefore suggests that Annie will always be a part of him, no matter what happens.
The Moon
Just as seasonal change marks the passage of years, so too does the moon remind the family of the passing weeks and months. Just as the moon waxes and wanes, the characters’ grief shifts through various states of shock, disbelief, and acceptance. The moon also becomes a secret way for Ali to connect to her mother’s memory. As the narrative states, “Annie had always loved the moon and was always forcing the kids outside to look up” and appreciate the moon (113). Ali remembers that Annie often referred to the moon in terms used by Indigenous tribes, who have marked the changes and natural phenomena that occur each month. Thinking of her mother’s frequent references to the moon allows Ali to remember her mother and learn to live without her. The text notes the moon marking the transition, “In a month, there would be the worm moon. Their mother had promised to figure out that moon name, too. Ali would have to look it up” (54). Without Annie to define the season, Ali must do it herself, demonstrating her growing independence.
On the night of Annie’s death, Ali looks out at the snow moon, illuminating the dark. She recalls her mother saying, “It’s the same moon over us all […] no matter where we go” (16). Though Benjy did not understand Annie’s metaphor at the time, Ali begins to understand, and the moon becomes a comfort to her, reminding her that her mother will always be with her in spirit. In the end, their mother’s love of the moon becomes a way to memorialize her. When Ali finds Annie’s wedding dress, Annemarie reminds her that Annie insisted they get married on a full moon. Likewise, on the first anniversary of Annie’s death, Benjy honors his mother by placing a copy of the beloved children’s classic Goodnight Moon near her grave. Throughout the story, the moon symbolizes humanity’s inextricable connection to nature and their need for a lamp in dark places.
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