Margaret and Cal’s kiss is the novel’s inciting incident: It sets into motion a series of events that will define their families for generations to come. The kiss symbolizes the wide-ranging effect that secrets have on family relationships, developing the theme of The Impact of Secrets on Marriage and Family. As a multigenerational saga, the world of the family takes center stage in Buckeye. Although Ryan explores the way that historical events shape individuals and their communities, he does so through his depiction of two families. Margaret and Cal are initially brought together by the thrilling news of Hitler’s surrender. They are also both, at the time of the kiss, in the early days of marriages that are not living up to their promises.

Cal still feels guilty and ashamed of his inability to fight in the war, and he wonders how to define himself in a generation of men defined by their military service. He struggles with Becky because he disapproves of her séances and feels further stigmatized by the negative attention she draws to their young family. Margaret also struggles: She is unhappy in small-town Bonhomie after the liberating excitement of life in Columbus. She is also dissatisfied with Felix because sexual connection matters to her, and she does not understand the lack of connection in her marriage.

The kiss, although impulsive, is impactful. Both Cal and Margaret feel the pull of an attraction that they do not see replicated in their marriages, giving them a model for what they have both felt to be missing. Although the resulting affair is short, both Cal and Margaret feel grateful to have finally found the connection that they thought they would have with their spouse. That Margaret becomes pregnant and then hides the baby’s true parentage from both her family and Cal further cements the kiss as the novel’s key symbol and defining moment: The kiss comes to represent the way that one small decision can reverberate through multiple generations.

However, the consequences of the kiss are not all bad. The affair tests Cal and Becky’s marriage but ultimately gives them the opportunity to take stock of their relationship and think more critically about marriage itself. The kiss is also the springboard for Margaret to leave Felix and Tom, a decision that will have a devastating impact on Tom but will liberate Margaret. It also frees Felix from Margaret, allowing him to focus on the small-town family life that he aspires to and eventually pursue a romantic relationship with another man. The symbolic kiss allows the author to create a portrait of two very different families and explore the way that secrets impact them both.