60 pages • 2 hours read
Pen Pal
A 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
Kayla’s Wedding Ring
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of pregnancy loss, graphic violence, death, physical abuse, and emotional abuse.
Kayla’s wedding ring is a key symbol. It functions as a major point of contention between her and Aidan and a source of internal conflict for Kayla. As the novel progresses, her wedding ring is what indicates to Aidan that Kayla is in a complicated situation, prompting the concern that instigates their relationship. Then, Aidan begins to see the wedding ring as an impediment to their relationship, taking it as a symbol of Kayla’s intention to get back together with Michael, whom Aidan does not know is “dead.” However, for Kayla, the wedding ring is a source of confusion and frustration, as she does not understand until Purgatorio how much weight the ring carries for her.
Kayla’s wedding ring is a complex symbol. It represents Kayla’s denial of her death, her denial of the abuse she faced in her marriage, and the difficulty of moving on after a significant relationship. When Kayla finally realizes that she is dead, she buries the wedding ring with her marriage certificate and the sonogram of her child, uniting all three as a representation of Kayla’s life. Burying these objects allows her to pass peacefully into the afterlife, broadening the symbolism of the wedding ring to encompass the totality of Kayla’s trepidations following her death.
Additionally, the novel’s events make it likely that Kayla’s struggle to remove her wedding ring also existed in reality before her death. Kayla appears to relive her relationship with Aidan, meaning his problem with Kayla’s ring existed in real life too. In this sense, the ring represents the challenge of accepting and overcoming trauma, as Kayla does not want to see herself as a woman who allowed a man like Michael to violently abuse her and exert control over their relationship. In life, Kayla removing her ring would have shown her strength in moving past her trauma, and it carries that same meaning in death.
The Eurydice
The Eurydice is a recurring motif in Pen Pal. It is Michael and Kayla’s boat, named after the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. This story has multiple iterations, in all of which Orpheus seeks to retrieve Eurydice from Hades, failing at the last moment to trust that Eurydice is following him. In some iterations, Eurydice’s death occurs as the result of Aristaeus’s interference, as Aristaeus chases Eurydice into the forest. The story of Orpheus allows for multiple interpretations regarding Pen Pal, but the most consistent motif of Eurydice is the parallel between Kayla’s story and Eurydice's. Like Eurydice, Kayla is trapped in the underworld—“Inferno” or “hell”—and she needs the help of her lover to escape. At one point, Kayla feels like Eurydice is “watching her,” implying that the mythical character of Eurydice is looking to see how Kayla will act in the same position Eurydice once faced.
The story of Orpheus centers on the importance of trust in a relationship, as Orpheus needs to have faith that Eurydice will follow him. In that sense, Aidan succeeds where Orpheus fails, as he allows Kayla to find her way out of the “Inferno” to reunite with him. Michael likely named their boat the Eurydice to symbolize Kayla’s subordinance to him. Orpheus is a musical genius, which Michael likely saw as a parallel to his genius in mathematics. From that perspective, Eurydice is no more than a muse, which aligns with how Michael viewed Kayla.
The Buffalo Nickel and the Newspaper
The 1937 D-type buffalo nickel is a key symbol that connects to The Impact of Unresolved Grief and Guilt. It is a coin from Michael’s collection. Though the face value of the coin is $0.05, it is worth over $2,000 because of its rarity. When Kayla initially finds the coin, it is because she saw an apparition of Michael by the tree. The coin proceeds to follow Kayla, appearing in her car and her home. Ultimately, Claire shows Kayla the coin, prompting Kayla’s understanding that she is a ghost. The nickel symbolizes the depth behind innocuous appearances, as the coin itself is worth much more than it appears. Similarly, Kayla’s “life” as a ghost is much deeper and more complex than Kayla suspects. Additionally, the nickel’s appearances often coincide with moments in which Kayla must confront some aspect of her guilt or grief. Additionally, when Kayla remembers the moments of her death, the nickel is paired with her drowning and Michael’s laughter. This allows the nickel to also serve as a memento of Kayla’s death.
The newspaper is another symbol. Kayla finds it in Michael’s office, which she initially blames on Fiona. It reads “Local Man Drowns” (234), which Kayla sees as a reminder that Michael died. In Kayla’s fantasy, Michael drowns in an accident, and the newspaper sparks her grief. Like the nickel, though, the newspaper is hiding a deeper meaning, as the full headline reads “Local Man Drowns Wife” (313). Seeing the full headline contributes to Kayla remembering her death, and it exposes how the newspaper is a symbol of the deeper meanings behind Kayla’s illusory “life.”
Unlock all 60 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 9,100+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features: