The novel’s title directly refers to the vision Keith experiences in the first chapter, which foreshadows the novel’s events before plunging Keith into a darkness that he finds “nice and safe” (8). One reason that Keith finds the darkness so comforting is that it starkly contrasts with the overwhelming nature of his vision, which evokes Keith’s fears of what the future will hold. Here, the black hole thus symbolizes a retreat into childhood safety. Its meaning is similar in Chapter 4, when Chris goes swimming at the kegger party. When she inadvertently exposes the gash on her back to her peers, she escapes their judgmental gazes and surrenders herself to the comfort of the cold water, where she allows herself to float for some time. She eventually resurfaces, feeling that she cannot stay in the darkness forever. Once again, the enveloping darkness signals the character’s desire to avoid confronting change.

However, while the lake brings respite from social judgment, it evokes a different kind of fear, prompting Chris to reflect, “I’ll never do it…I can’t stay out here forever” (60). This speaks to the fact that the black hole is itself associated with the changes the characters fear. Visually, many of the “holes” the text depicts resemble vaginas. The gash on Chris’s foot is an example, and one that Keith explicitly likens to the “dark opening” of his initial vision. This resonance with the novel’s sexual themes ties the symbol to the characters’ anxieties about sex and, more broadly, growing up.

The novel’s conclusion synthesizes the two meanings of the black hole as the characters find peace in accepting change. At the end of both Keith and Chris’s stories, the darkness recurs once more, signaling the resolution of their respective anxieties. Keith sinks into darkness as he falls asleep next to Eliza. However, his embrace of this darkness coincides with his embrace of change, making it quite different from his initial retreat into the black hole. Meanwhile, Chris floats in the waters near the rock arch, staring out into the darkness of the night sky and telling herself, “I’d stay out here forever if I could” (357). Her words echo but also reject her earlier thoughts about the lake, revealing her newfound acceptance of change.