Fiona’s Accident
“The empty champagne flute, which she’d been holding tightly, was cracked. A droplet of blood ran down her right wrist and another ran down the outside of the glass. When she peeled her hand back, the whole glass fell apart, shattering onto the floor” (pg. 166).
Fiona is telling Jake about when her brother was slowly dying in the hospital when she gets so emotional that she shatters the glass. Her hand injury from this results in someone having to pick every last glass shard out of her hand, and this relates to the long-lasting trauma that she has to hold on to from the 1980s. The glass falling apart represents her life falling apart after her brother’s death, unavoidable, unchangeable, and so devastating.
Yale’s Dream House
“He walked, slowly, a block and a half east to the small blue house with black shutters, the shiny black door...Who on earth ever bought a house? But maybe they could. To own a piece of the city, to have something that was theirs, that no one could kick them out of on any pretext---that would be something” (pg. 21).
The house that is wedged between Chicago’s towering skyscrapers represents Yale’s dream of a traditional monogamous life that never acquiesced. A house represents a safe space where they won’t face the discrimination for being gay, for being associated with AIDS, for being themselves.
Roscoe the Cat
Nico’s cat Roscoe is symbolic to many different characters. Roscoe is a memory chamber: he is named after a local street and he represents Nico’s legacy. Roscoe is most likely a burden to Terrence, Yale, and Cecily, but all three take care of him because it means something to a loved one. The cat represents comfort, and its life becomes more valuable as friends die. Take Julian’s overreaction to the cat when Yale introduces it to their apartment:
“It took only a second of blank confusion before Julian was down on the floor, clutching Roscoe like a long-lost security blanket…‘Hey, buddy, you’re living in the penthouse now! Is he gonna stay? Can he stay?’” (pg. 286).
Yale feeling Healthy
After Yale receives his test results which indicate he doesn’t have AIDS, he marches happily down the street:“...He went down Hubbard Street where there were a couple of gay bars and an unmarked bathhouse...it was just nice to walk there. To know there were other groups of friends in other parts of the city having their own crises and affairs and redemptions. To be outside, feeling healthy...How lovely not to recognize anyone. How lovely not to know which of these men were dying” (pg. 292).
The imagery of being an outsider looking in on a city indicates that Yale feels a disconnect with this community, that he sees himself being above them. He talks about the joy of not being burdened with others’ sadness, but also recognizes that he is not alone in his sadness.
