55 pages • 1 hour read
Taylor Jenkins ReidAfter I Do
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Perspective
The novel is written from Lauren Spencer’s first-person perspective. This formal choice grants access to Lauren’s internal world. Because Lauren is narrating, all of the novel’s conflicts, events, and explorations originate from Lauren’s consciousness. For example, when she and Ryan Cooper fight after the Dodgers game and Ryan leaves, Lauren says, “I can’t believe that I have thrown a vase at the wall. I can’t believe that the crushed mess of glass on the floor is because of me. I wasn’t intending to hurt him” (59). A passage such as this one captures Lauren’s vulnerability and exposes her true feelings and thoughts. She isn’t articulating this internal experience in dialogue, but her first-person narration grants an intimate level of access to her experience.
Over the course of the novel, the way that Lauren translates her internal experience to the page evolves. She becomes increasingly introspective and incorporates more questions and hesitations into her narration. These formal shifts instigate tonal changes that trace Lauren’s evolution over time. The novel is most focused upon exploring Lauren’s journey of personal growth and her changing outlook on love, and for this reason, the author uses Lauren’s perspective to ground these explorations within the protagonist’s psyche.
Figurative Language
The novel frequently incorporates figurative language into Lauren’s narration in order to breathe new life into her internal experiences. For example, after she and Ryan separate, she says that she doesn’t “melt like butter or deflate like a tire”; instead, she “shatter[s] like glass, into thousands of pieces” (72). These similes conjure notions of a slow seepage or a gradual shifting out of shape. By contrast, the image of the breaking glass conjures a sense of rapid, violent destruction. This language creates an immersive sensory experience and captures the intensity of Lauren’s emotions.
Setting
The novel primarily takes place in Los Angeles, California. Because Lauren grew up in LA, she is intimately connected to the cityscape and the surrounding region. She also considers LA to be her home, and she therefore defines herself and her relationships according to the unique rhythms of this place. Lauren’s narrative attention to the roads, mountains, valleys, storefronts, and streets therefore provides an entry point into her understanding of the world.
The novel’s less-emphasized settings also provide insight into Lauren’s complex emotions. For example, when she and Ryan visit Yosemite for their fourth anniversary, Lauren feels intimidated by the “treacherous paths, steep climbs, areas where you couldn’t rest” (25). This particular setting challenges her physically and emotionally and foreshadows the challenges that the couple will face throughout their relationship. Likewise, the Hancock Park house also encapsulates the characters’ more nuanced emotional and relational experiences. The serene residential neighborhood captures Lauren and Ryan’s desire for a free, slow-going, and calm home life together. Because the setting is idyllic to Lauren in particular, it represents her romantic ideas about marriage and love. Thus, the novel uses a variety of settings as extensions of the characters’ inner worlds.
Related Titles
By Taylor Jenkins Reid
