The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2000

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Symbols & Motifs

Magic

Content Warning: This guide and the source text contain references to police violence, rape, anti-gay prejudice and violence, antisemitism, and the persecution of Jewish people by the Nazi regime.

The question of “What is magic?” is woven throughout the text and develops themes of Escape and Freedom as well as The Healing Power of Art. Magic first enters the story in Joe’s younger years in Prague and through the Bernard Kornblum character, but magic, as a thematic element, is not solely relegated to the tricks and illusions that magicians perform; the magical motif often blurs with science and phenomena. Kornblum finds the workings of the universe to be “magical,” and later, Joe uses the term “magic” to describe the ability that art gave him to forget for several moments all his cares and worries.

Golems/the Golem of Prague

A golem is an anthropomorphic being created from mud or clay and brought to life through “magical/religious” incantation. The Golem of Prague is a legend and one of the better-known golems in historiography. The Golem of Prague’s creator, Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, imbued the Golem with certain magical abilities so it could protect Jews against the antisemitic actions of the Holy Roman Emperor. In the novel, the Golem is much more than its physical representation as a figure made from the mud of the Moldau that Joe uses to escape Czechoslovakia. Rather, the golem is linked with the idea of American superheroes. In fact, it is the source material for Joe’s and Sam’s first superhero ideas and becomes their final idea at the end of the book, when Joe creates a graphic novel heavily based on the Golem of Prague’s story.

In the biblical book of Genesis, God created Adam from the dust of the earth and then gave him the breath of life, which is very similar to the way a golem is created. However, unlike that of humankind, the golem’s existence is entirely transitory and can be “deactivated” simply by removing the spell. This similarity and difference enable the golem to stand as a liminal figure, like a guardian at the threshold between the worlds of the living and the dead. The golem literally saves Joe from death in Nazi-occupied Europe, and, as hinted at toward the end of the novel, might very well hold the souls of Joe’s dead family members. The golem’s return to Joe signifies Joe’s ability to come to terms with the deaths of his parents and brother and move on with his life.

The Golden Key

The golden key represents freedom and the price to be paid for obtaining that freedom. Freedom is a gift that must be earned, and once one receives the gift of freedom, it is that person’s responsibility to free another. Throughout the novel, Joe struggles to repay this debt and secure his family’s immigration from Prague. When that fails, Joe forgets the debt to be paid for a while, but as soon as he is finally reunited with Sam and Rosa and sees an opportunity to free Sammy from his unhappiness, he quickly remembers and struggles to find a way to help Sam. Sam, for his part, seems often to find himself in a position to free someone. He is always there for Joe, and, to some extent because of him, Joe even has the opportunity to free his family. However, Sam’s most conspicuous act of freeing someone is his marriage to Rosa. As already stated, by marrying Rosa, he allows her to avoid having an unwanted abortion and equips her to better survive in a society that makes life very difficult for single mothers. Rosa herself is the saving grace for Joe’s return from the war and from the ghosts of his past. Ultimately, by working together and loving one another, Rosa, Sam, and Joe find freedom, literally and metaphorically, at the end of the book.