48 pages • 1 hour read
Annie LyonsThe Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett
Annie LyonsFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A 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
Clothing Choices
Content Warning: This section contains discussions of suicide.
The way Rose and Eudora dress reflects their different stages of life. Rose wears bright, often clashing colors and flamboyant articles of clothing like tutus and T-shirts with sayings like “Be more unicorn” (125). These flashy styles represent Rose’s zest for life, energy, and desire to be seen by others. At first, Eudora is taken aback by the outfits. In Chapter 5, “Rose is wearing her normal clothes—if you can call a fuchsia-pink ra-ra skirt, silver sequined flip-flops, and a fluorescent yellow t-shirt normal” (79). Eudora is almost offended by the brash, bright colors and combinations that Rose wears, but over time, she becomes fond of Rose’s “sartorial issues,” symbolizing their Intergenerational Friendship’s ability to transcend superficial differences.
Eudora, on the other hand, has a wardrobe full of drab and dark colors. Over the years, she has stopped purchasing beautiful things and has instead bought items that are practical and durable. This represents Eudora’s life in general, which lacks color. She is lonely and has nothing to look forward to at the beginning of the novel, and her clothes reflect that sad situation. Rose’s selection of party clothes for Eudora represents a changing point in Eudora’s openness to others and to life in general; it also suggests the way in which Rose’s friendship brings Eudora joy and energy.
Montgomery
Montgomery, Eudora’s pet cat, is a symbol of the character’s own emotional arc. Like Eudora, Montgomery is initially very standoffish; he even “nip[s]” at Eudora when she tries to pet him. She is therefore surprised when, in a moment that anticipates the pull Rose exerts on Eudora herself, Montgomery immediately befriends the girl: “The cat makes a beeline for Rose and, to Eudora’s amazement, not only allows her to stroke him but starts to purr when she makes the potentially life-threatening move to pick him up” (28). Under Rose’s influence, both Montgomery and Eudora grow warmer and more tolerant of others—including each other. Given the pair’s similarities, their increased closeness also suggests Eudora’s greater ease with herself as she makes friends and engages in life.
Montgomery’s subsequent death in an accident resonates in several ways. For one, it foreshadows Eudora’s eventual death and introduces Rose to the idea that pain is an inevitable part of life—one often connected to love and joy. Eudora takes the event as symbolic confirmation that her fears about herself were right and books a flight to Sweden. However, once she is talked out of her interest in assisted suicide, it becomes clear that Montgomery’s death represents something else: the “death” of Eudora’s old life and her rebirth into her new one. Rose’s adoption of a kitten underscores the relationship with new beginnings. Together, the two cats represent Reconciling with the Past and Embracing Second Chances.
Food
Food, especially sweets, is a motif that develops themes of both The Importance of Kindness and the joys of life. Chapter 1 juxtaposes the elderly Eudora’s solitary consumption of an apple turnover with a flashback to enjoying pastries with her father as a child. The latter scene underscores the impoverishment of Eudora’s present life; she is alone, and she does not even truly enjoy the pastry but rather regards the letter from the assisted suicide clinic as the real “treat.”
Rose’s entrance into Eudora’s life alleviates both her loneliness and her apathy, which Annie Lyons suggests through the motif of food. Rose often shares various treats with Eudora, bringing cookies to her on an early visit and insisting that Eudora try the Haribo candies. Her generosity touches Eudora, who slowly warms to the girl while also finding, to her surprise, that she enjoys foods that are new to her, like pizza. As Eudora’s social circle expands, many of her interactions with others take place over meals—e.g., the barbecue for Stanley’s birthday—reinforcing the connection between food, company, and living life to the fullest regardless of one’s age.
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