logo

73 pages 2 hours read

Hanya Yanagihara

To Paradise

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Symbols & Motifs

The Washington Square Mansion

In Book 1, David Bingham lives with his grandfather in a beautiful mansion in the fashionable Washington Square neighborhood of New York. At the start of the novel, David learns that his grandfather has selected him to inherit the mansion while his siblings get other properties; by the end of his narrative, David has chosen to leave the mansion to go and live with Edward Bishop. The Washington Square mansion symbolizes David’s infantilization, dependence on his family, and lack of identity. While his siblings have married, built successful careers, and started their own families, David continues to live with his grandfather in the house where he grew up. The house symbolizes how David has remained in a childlike state and has not made independent decisions about the life he wants to lead or who he wants to be.

When David’s grandfather selects him to inherit the mansion, he symbolically sets David on a path to have a life that will remain very stable and consistent but lack novelty and adventure. David’s ambivalence about the mansion reflects his ambivalence about his illustrious family. He has fond memories of and an emotional attachment to the house, and sometimes, he feels a sense of connection and belonging. However, he also feels trapped and oppressed by the expectations that come with it, just like he feels trapped by the identity he has inherited by being born into the Bingham family. When David walks out of the mansion one last time at the end of his narrative, he is symbolically leaving not just the house but his old identity and stepping into a new form of adulthood and agency.

Wika’s Blindness

In Book 2, after spending many years living mostly outdoors in harsh conditions, Wika goes blind. His blindness symbolizes how he was unable to see the truth about Edward’s utopian fantasies; it also symbolizes his regret and the painful consequences of the bad choices he made. When Wika begins to go along with Edward’s plans to build a new community at Lipo-wao-nahele, he is seduced by his affection for Edward, and he cannot see that Edward’s plans are poorly thought out and unlikely to be successful. Even when they move to Lipo-wao-nahele and things are going badly, Wika refuses to acknowledge the truth that it would be better to leave Edward and go home. Wika’s physical blindness becomes a manifestation of his metaphorical blindness. There are other permanent consequences; Wika permanently alienates his son, and David experiences a lot of grief based on his father’s decisions. By the end of his life, Wika is aware that he has made the wrong choices. His blindness also symbolizes his reliance on his interior world: He lives in his dreams rather than the reality of what is happening around him.

Viruses and Illness

Viruses and illness are one of the most important motifs in the novel; each of the three books features a different example of illness, and all of the illnesses become a source of suspicion, fear, and stigmatization. In Book 1, David Bingham and his grandfather hide the fact that David has mysterious “episodes,” which seem to be a form of depression. For example, they try to ensure that Charles doesn’t know about David’s illness for fear that it will make Charles unwilling to marry him, and David worries that his illness makes his grandfather ashamed of him. There is no discussion of David’s illness being contagious, but it is depicted as a sign of weakness and a source of shame.

In Book 2, both David and Charles have many friends who become infected with HIV; in the early 1990s, when this section takes place, the AIDS epidemic was causing significant loss of life within the gay community. There is much secrecy and shame surrounding the virus and illness, and even powerful men like the friends in Charles’s social circle hide their status. David later reflects on how living through this epidemic changed his sense of time, risks, and the value of being alive. It brought him closer to some friends, but it also meant that people often felt unstable and unsure about the future. Book 2 also examines the different experiences of illness based on class, with Charles’s wealthier friends able to access better care than David’s poorer friends. Nonetheless, stigma and shame transcend class lines.

In Book 3, dangerous viruses cause regular outbreaks and pandemics that result in significant loss of life. Because the viruses mutate, the pandemics occur over and over again, and there is always the fear that each outbreak will be deadlier than the last. The ever-present threat of contagious disease leads to the American government taking measures of which many people are critical, such as forcing people who are sick to go to containment centers and die there alone. Throughout the novel, viruses and illnesses show that vulnerability can lead to cruelty, isolation, and the breakdown of community. Illness can create a sense of solidarity like the gay community’s response to the AIDS crisis, but it often pushes people apart and pits them against each other.

Charles’s Ring

In Book 3, Charles inherits a beautiful Hawaiian ring from his friend Aubrey. The ring is special because it contains a hidden compartment where the wearer can keep poison in case they are captured or imprisoned. Charles wears the ring for years and eventually sends it to his friend Peter, hoping that if he and Charlie can escape from America, they can use the valuable ring to start a new life together. When David eventually tells Charlie that he has been sent to help her get out of America, he shows her the ring as proof that he is acting following her grandfather’s plan. The ring symbolizes Charles’s hope that his granddaughter will be able to begin a new life and his loss of hope in America. Charles becomes convinced that Charlie needs to get out years before her escape attempt, and when she sees the ring, it is a sign that she should trust David. The ring is also symbolic because it comes from an era when one form of Hawaiian civilization was coming to an end, and many individuals chose to end their lives rather than experience oppression. When Charles sends the ring to Peter, he sees America as being past the point of no return. However, while the ring was used by individuals who would rather die than live through an unbearable reality, Charles believes that Charlie can still find a better life.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text