One Day in December

In September and October, Laurie’s commitment to make the best of her situation is getting the better of her. This is yet another step in her character development into adulthood; although Laurie is confident that adulthood means leaving her emotional past behind her, she comes to discover that repressing one’s true feelings detracts from one’s life experience. The distance between her and Oscar is now not only geographic but also emotional. Laurie can sense that the pieces of her life are synthetic and illusory at best; the interaction between her and Cressida in Lucille’s kitchen confirms that Laurie cannot trust her own husband, or herself.

The argument between Oscar and Laurie is the beginning of their end: Sarah lauds Oscar in earlier chapters for not being the type of person who loses control over their anger, but when Oscar raises his voice to Laurie in defense of his life in Brussels, Laurie knows that more emotions and secrets are hidden between the lines. In fact, Laurie would know more than anybody what it looks like when someone keeps their feelings a secret. Laurie spent years keeping her feelings for Jack a secret from Sarah, and now she is in Sarah’s role. For the entire novel, Laurie has had to struggle with what it means to tell the truth, and to what extent the truth needs to be told. Now, she is the one for whom the truth is not revealed. This knowledge helps end her commitment to keeping her feelings buried, as keeping secrets has only caused more pain in her life and the lives of others.

The argument that propels the eventual ending of Oscar and Laurie’s marriage further emphasizes Silver’s theme of “one hundred percent” love. Oscar and Laurie do love each other, but Laurie realizes that Oscar loves her in the context of the person he was in Thailand. Such a context is not enough to support their love, and therefore, Oscar is not Laurie’s “one hundred percent.” When Oscar and Laurie agree to try to have a baby, the baby is a symbol of the unspoken cracks in their relationship. They believe a baby can fix their situation because they want to fix their situation, whereas Silver’s point here is that without that feeling of one hundred percent, there can be no fixing their problems.

Months into trying for a baby, Oscar’s promotion forces out his idea that Laurie would be a stay-at-home mother, a conversation they never had. Laurie and Oscar are both projecting their goals and desires for their self onto the other person, a recipe that does not lead to a healthy relationship. Laurie is surprised by Oscar’s assumption that she would give up her career to follow him to Brussels with a baby, but Laurie also assumes that Oscar wouldn’t want that for his family. Furthermore, Laurie is relieved when she discovers she is not pregnant, a symbolic relief that speaks more about her feelings for Oscar than it does about having a baby.

By ensuring that both characters are not fully upfront with one another, Silver invites the reader to see Laurie’s failed marriage as the result of a couple that was never meant to be, not because the love was unrealistic or that Oscar was the one who ruined Laurie’s life. The reader is thereby in a position to compare the conditional love Laurie and Oscar shared with the adoration Sarah has for Luke, and eventually the unconditional love Jack and Laurie have for one another. Laurie describes her marriage to Oscar as “living life at half-mast” (351), an apt metaphor for the lack of “one hundred percent” in their relationship.

Meanwhile, Laurie’s character development is marred by isolation. Sarah has gone to Australia, and Jack lives happily in Scotland, confirming the split up of the trifecta that was the foundation of Laurie’s life for many years. Laurie was sure that separation from Jack would be good for her, but now that she is on her own, she realizes how lonely her life has become. Laurie becomes more taciturn, less open with others, and more protective over her life. She separates herself even more from Jack, fixated on making her lonely life work.

Meanwhile, Jack’s character development demonstrates that he, too, is trying to make the most out of his new life in Scotland by suppressing his true feelings for Laurie. Jack is happy, but there is simply something missing in his life. This nagging knowledge keeps Jack from committing to Amanda, and his failure to do so confirms Jack’s fears that he’s not a “good guy.” Ever since Jack’s first narration, Silver has been showing the reader how concerned Jack is with being perceived as nice, and even when he is physically and emotionally aggravated after his accident, he is still self-reflective. In his adult life, Jack has not yet developed the sense of self-confidence that confirms to him that he is a good person. Now, Silver shows, for the last time, that Jack and Laurie need one another to fill the final hole in their lives.

The notion of “swimming,” particularly in difficult waters, is a recurring motif in the novel. Laurie and Jack both describe their early twenties as a draining physical exercise, as though they’re treading water instead of swimming ahead. The motif reappears in the end of the novel. Jack describes his life in Scotland as a time in which he plunged himself into women and work, but now he’s finding more balance in breathing the air. This swimming metaphor solidifies Jack’s growth. He no longer feels the need to prove something to himself and to others; he is free to simply live, and this freedom also makes him more emotionally open to the idea of being with Laurie. Laurie, fresh from her separation with Oscar, makes a characteristic list of New Year’s resolutions, one of which is to swim. Here again, Laurie is using the imagery of swimming to express a craving to live life with passion and problems again, instead of trying to make things work. Now, Laurie and Jack are both emotionally available in ways they haven’t been in the past.

The final turning point of the novel is Jack and Laurie’s reunion on the air. Laurie hears Jack’s voice when she is alone, and she feels comfort. Jack has never needed to be present in order to make Laurie feel good; she has always been able to cherish his voice, her memories of him, or the idea of him. It is a perfectly circular move on Silver’s part to have the reunion occur nine years and one day after Laurie and Jack first saw each other on the bus. The holiday season has provided Laurie with feelings of vast highs and lows, but now the circle closes with her and Jack reuniting at the very time of their first sighting. The romantic symbolism is necessary here, because Jack must admit remembering Laurie from the bus in order to open the path for their relationship. For years Jack has not told anyone, including Laurie, that he saw her, too, but now he is able to confront the absurd but beautiful moment nearly 10 years before.

Silver presents a happy ending: Laurie and Jack reunite, they kiss, and the reader is left assured that they are now able to live their life together, in love. There is no way for the reader to know what happens between Laurie and Jack; they suggestions is that we already know. Laurie and Jack were always meant to be together, but Silver’s plot provides them with the necessary trials and tribulations that test the notion of a “one hundred percent” love. In the end, they are both better off for not having pursued each other at the bus stop. Their love is strong because it’s been swimming against tough currents. Leaving the reader with the first kiss of their new life together also mirrors a trope of the romance genre: The magical moment of the kiss, the publicity behind it, and the mad rush to the station to get to Jack all prompt the type of drama that provides a heightened rush for the reader. Laurie and Jack get their happily-ever-after moment, and the reader is welcomed to believe in the power of true love.