Cancer

The friend’s cancer symbolizes death and the struggle to face mortality. The friend is middle-aged, but after she is diagnosed with terminal cancer, she must begin to reckon with the terror of her own mortality. The friend struggles to maintain a consistent sense of bravery and control, as her illness constantly threatens her sense of personal security.

Climate Change

Climate change symbolizes the uncertainty of humanity’s future. The narrator’s ex-boyfriend is a renowned writer. He has become fully invested in the belief that climate change has passed the point of reversibility, and he gives lectures to the effect that humanity must accept its inevitable self-destruction. Other characters argue with him, saying that there is still hope, and that pessimism is defeatist.

Female Aging

The novel’s allusions to female aging symbolize the continued prevalence of misogyny in modern culture. The narrator is middle-aged...