Paris Motif
The city of Paris is a constant throughout the novel; firstly, in its 1920s heyday, and subsequently in the present day. The realities of Paris are very different in each era yet there is also a parallel between them; in both cases, the characters that the author writes of have fled to Paris in search of something and also because they do not fit in where they come from. Paris is also a connection between the different themes of the book; it transects the art world in which Yale lives and works, the gay community that has been lost represented by the photographs on Richard's walls, and also Fiona's tumultuous relationship with her daughter who has gone to Paris with the cult she has become wrapped up in.
Cult Symbol
Claire has joined a cult and cut all ties with her mother primarily because to her the cult is a symbol of family which is something that she has long been seeking. Because Fiona was wrapped up in caring for her friends who were dying of AIDS during Claire's childhood, the attention that she should have been giving her daughter was directed elsewhere. Consequently, to Claire, the family felt fragmented and distant. The all-encompassing perceived love of the cult symbolizes everything that she has ever felt a family to be which also explains its attraction.
Richard' Photographs Symbol
The photographs on the walls of Richard's apartment in Paris are symbols of an entire generation of friends who were wiped out in the AIDS epidemic. They are also a symbol of loss, especially felt by Fiona, who has never realized before seeing the pictures exactly how much of an impact the losses had on her life.
F. Scott Fitzgerald Allegory
The generation of friends wiped out by the AIDS epidemic are an allegory of the generation of friends lost in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "My Generation" in that they are a lost generation, wiped out en masse and thereby prevented from fulfilling their potential. Those still living are also, in some way, lost, because they have been so affected by the losses. The author also used a quote from Fitzgerald's novel as her novel's title.
Chicago Setting Symbol
The author chose to set the novel in Chicago because it is symbolic of the spread of the AIDS epidemic which is usually portrayed as taking place in the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. By setting the story in another city, lesser known for its epidemic and usually not considered to be one of the epicenters, the author is able to show that this was a crisis that affected everyone, in any city at all, not just in the recognized "centers". Chicago symbolizes all of the forgotten cities where the AIDS crisis was rampant but not widely recognized.
