As the tale unravels, Quoyle quite literally learns the ropes of life. Chapters are introduced by quotations from Clifford Warren Ashley's The Ashley Book of Knots (1944), which Proulx acknowledges provided her with the inspiration for making the novel into more than "just the thread of an idea."

Quoyle, whose name means a coil of rope, experiences the various knots or themes of life as he either uncoils (or unravels) or coils himself from childhood into adulthood.

Knots are strung throughout the novel, pictured at the openings of most of the chapters, and one type of knot appears in chapter after chapter, separating smaller units of each chapter.

The knots which introduce the chapters are symbolic of the focus of the chapter or an event in the chapter: half hitches, rolling hitches, slippery hitches, lanyards, cats cradles, marriage knots and more. Knots relate to Quoyle but also to other...