The Librarianist

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Books and Reading

The book’s title prepares readers for the significant role that books and reading will play in Bob’s life. He comes to reading at a young age; books are a comfort and a safe haven for him in a world where he feels different from everyone else. The challenge to connect with other people shifts to a general disinterest in people on Bob’s part—his interest in books only grows as he ages and he realizes that there is no other way he would rather spend his time than reading.

Though Bob struggles to connect with other people in a personal way, it is via books and reading that he connects with the most important people in his life: Connie and Ethan. Bob’s role as a librarian puts him in close proximity to Connie, who is forced to accompany her father, an avid nonfiction reader, to Bob’s branch nearly daily. These circumstances, and the banning of Connie’s father from the library, carve out the opportunity for Bob and Connie to talk and get to know one another. Likewise, it is books that unite Ethan and Bob when Bob insists Ethan read Crime and Punishment upon their first meeting. Bob has a knack for sensing which book the reader needs to experience and fosters a kind of connection a person did not know they needed. It is this connection that he hopes to provide the residents of Gillman-Reed by reading to them, but Bob’s goal is thwarted when the residents are unable to pay attention to Bob. While books are the avenue that connect Bob to other people, it is through books that Connie and Ethan meet (when Ethan spots Connie reading Crime and Punishment).

Connie’s Red String

Part 2 closes with a highly symbolic moment: Bob grows suspicious after he sees Connie wearing a red string around her wrist that is tied with a double bow. When he discovers that it is impossible for a person to tie the double bow with the string on his own wrist, he confronts Connie about this. Bob suspects it is Ethan who tied the string on to Connie’s wrist. Bob’s asking about the tying of it is his way of signaling to Connie that he knows of her infidelity. That neither Bob nor Connie can speak directly of Connie’s betrayal with Ethan indicates how difficult the subject is for both of them: Bob is hurt and plagued with grief by the terrible event that he has deemed inevitable. Connie, in turn, is aware of the way she has hurt Bob with her disloyalty.

The string itself is simple and innocuous; Connie’s wearing it on her wrist echoes the way one might wear a piece of fine jewelry. Bob discerns at once that it holds some sort of importance for Connie, in part because she refuses to explain her reason for wearing it. Bob’s hope that he will find the string in the trash at the end of the day signifies his desire for his suspicion—that Connie and Ethan are engaging in an affair—not to be true. Instead, Connie stores the string in the same manner she stores her jewelry, giving it, and thus her relationship with Ethan, a great importance.

Bobbing for Apples

In the novel’s final pages, Bob finds himself in the middle of a socially awkward moment. When none of the children are willing to volunteer to take the first turn at bobbing for apples, Bob decides to do so. This seemingly insignificant moment is fraught with symbolism and meaning. Bob’s decision comes as a result of his sensing Maria’s discomfort and panic when the children do not engage in the way that she had assumed they would. The children, uncomfortable at this unfamiliar game and uncertain about how to proceed, are reminiscent of Bob as a child, who was reserved, awkward, and reluctant to engage with others. None of them wish to be in the spotlight in a moment in which they will be, in their eyes, socially vulnerable. Bob understands this, relating to the sentiment whole-heartedly and remembering the fear that plagued him in such situations in the past.

Just as Bob’s decision to volunteer at Gambell-Reed Senior Center in the first place was one that required bravery and fortitude—along with the desire to push himself to connect with others—so too is Bob’s final action of bobbing for apples. This indicates a growth in his character, as he has gained the confidence to step outside of his comfort zone in the interest of helping others. Further, it indicates Bob’s embracing of The Impact of Relationships and Human Connection and suggests that though Bob nears the end of his life, it will continue to be a life full of meaningful relationships.