comment on theme

The author uses this theme to explore the way people react to death or a significant loss, and how grief can make people behave in uncharacteristic ways. When Zachary dies at the beginning of the novel, the three main characters are tossed into a sea of pain and confusion as they attempt to process the loss. Lydia is perhaps most profoundly affected, as Zach was her husband and she had built her life around him, not bothering to cultivate a career, other interests, or strong relationships beyond those she has with Christine and Alex. But as Christine notes, they are all unmoored by Zach's death, because, “Of all of us, he's the one we couldn't afford to lose” (10). This is proven throughout the novel in the characters' actions in the aftermath; Zach was the lynchpin that kept the group functional. Without his presence, Christine cannot make art, Lydia is undone by loneliness, and Alex succumbs to his worst impulses by leaving his wife for Lydia.