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Variation
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Symbols & Motifs
“Five Minutes”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content.
The phrase “five minutes” is a motif repeated throughout the novel. It indicates a break from the normal, with Hudson and Allie utilizing the phrase when they want to do something difficult. It is an important phrase to them because Hudson uses it the first time that they meet. When they are in the ocean, Hudson uses it to reassure Eva and Allie that they will be in the boat and safe very soon. He tells them that “it will take us less than five minutes to get you both in the boat,” and that “anything is doable for five minutes” (8-9). Allie remembers this phrase over the next decade, using it as motivation during her ballet, just as Hudson uses it when he is training. When she dances the consecutive turns in Giselle, she pauses just before she begins and thinks, “Anything is doable for five minutes. His voice slipped through my mind” (29). Throughout the novel, the phrase is often repeated, serving as a joke between Hudson and Allie in reference to their first meeting.
Ultimately, this phrase often serves to emphasize a need for The Balance Between Personal and Professional Dreams. For Allie, the personal and professional are in tension once she is outside the Company. She feels as though she still wants to pursue her dream of ballet, yet she enjoys being with Hudson and taking time away in Cape Cod. Not fully ready to commit to her personal life—as she is still facing the internal conflict of her decision—she instead often uses the phrase “five minutes” to step away from her professional life to enjoy her time with Hudson. For example, when Hudson pulls Allie into the shower room after she first kisses him, he tells her he wants “five minutes where we don’t pretend. Just you and me” (173). The two then spend the next five minutes kissing, with Allie getting lost in her feelings for him. Then, when Allie is overwhelmed by the stress of the gala, she takes Hudson back to her apartment. Once there, she tells him that she wants five minutes where Hudson “pretends” that “[he] wants [her]” (230). Hudson himself serves as an escape for Allie from her overwhelming professional life, and she initially only allows herself “five minutes” to enjoy him, live how she wants, and indulge in her personal life.
The Rousseau Family Ring
The family ring that Allie is given the day that Lina dies is a symbol of love that shifts over time as its meaning is revealed. Initially, Allie sees it as a representation of the love that she has for Lina. She keeps it for a decade after the accident, even though her mother and the police insist that Lina could not have given it to her before she died. She keeps it a secret, telling no one that she still has it. She uses the ring to anchor herself to Lina, insisting that it shows how much Lina loved her and that she owes it to Lina to live her best life after her death. In some ways, the ring traps Allie, as it serves as one of The Pressures of Athletic Excellence, constantly reminding her to live up to Lina’s memory. She is dedicated to being successful in ballet as a way to honor Lina, noting how she “danced for Lina” as she pushed through her pain and injured herself during Giselle (29). With the ring as a constant reminder, Allie insists that she needs to continue to pursue ballet to make Lina and her mother—the person who passed the ring onto Lina—proud.
When Allie learns the truth of the accident, the ring then shifts to become a symbol of her love with Hudson. Once Allie learns how damaging professional ballet and the Company are to her physical and mental health, she steps away from it and pursues her love with Hudson. Central to this transition is her discovery that it was Hudson—and not Lina—who gave Allie the ring after the car accident. Hudson tells her that Lina gave him the ring because she saw that he “was in love with [Allie],” explaining that “it would be a message to your entire family that she had your back, and she was so certain you’d choose me because you loved me, too, even if you didn’t realize it” (406). From that point on, the ring serves not as a reminder of what Allie owes to Lina, but instead of the fact that Lina approved of her relationship with Hudson. No longer feeling the pressure to perform for Lina, she is able to step away from the Company and truly be happy.
Cape Cod
Cape Cod symbolizes two different things for Allie and Hudson. It is the central setting in the story, with many of the events of the novel taking place over the summer there. However, for Allie, it also represents an escape from her life. As she faces the pressure that ballet puts on her while at her home in New York, she can escape and actually enjoy ballet while she is in Cape Cod. While dancing is still an important part of her life, she is now enjoying practicing alone, training June, and getting back to the parts of ballet that she truly loves. In this way, it also symbolizes her escape from the Company and the competitive world of professional ballet. For Hudson, Cape Cod symbolizes the opposite, as it makes him feel trapped. Because it is his home for his entire life, he feels as though he needs to remain there to raise June and help Caroline after Sean’s death. Despite his dreams of pursuing rescue diving elsewhere, he feels stuck in Cape Cod.
For both characters, Cape Cod emphasizes the conflict between personal and professional dreams. Cape Cod symbolizes the importance of personal life for Allie as it serves as an escape, while, conversely, it prevents Hudson from achieving his professional dreams. Ultimately, both escape from Cape Cod at the end of the novel, finding a way to balance both their personal and professional lives and living happily together elsewhere.
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By Rebecca Yarros
