Daydream

Art is an important motif in the novel that invokes The Transformative Power of Love. The painting Henry makes of his moms reflects his emotional vulnerability, as the work is deeply personal to him and he does not feel ready to show it to anyone while working on it. When Henry takes Halle to the Byrd & Bolton art gallery to see the work on display, the moment signifies how confident Henry now feels in sharing something so personal with Halle. The large canvas is “so intricately detailed” that Halle thinks it “could be a photograph” (288). It depicts Henry’s moms “sitting together at a table outside” (288), talking and laughing. The image is so personal that Halle feels as if she’s “intruding on a private moment” while standing in front of it at the gallery (288). Showing Halle the painting is therefore Henry’s way of inviting her into his private experience and opening up to her.

The art that Henry and Halle create together on canvas also symbolizes their deepening emotional vulnerability and burgeoning love affair. Henry and Halle make this painting together when they paint one another’s naked bodies and then have sex on top of the large canvas. The resulting painting creates strokes of purple paint, as the couple has used red and blue paint on their bodies. In these ways, the canvas represents the partnership that the couple has created together and the balanced nature of their sexual and romantic dynamic. When Halle notices the canvas hanging over Henry’s bed toward the end of the novel, the sight of it reaffirms for her how sincere Henry’s feelings toward her really are.