53 pages • 1 hour read
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: This guide includes moments of and references to suicide, addiction, abuse, and domestic violence.
Molly Thorn’s book I Cheerfully Refuse is a motif in the novel that supports the theme of Processing Grief to Heal. The novel carries significant emotional meaning for Rainy since Molly Thorn is Lark’s favorite author and the novel is the last she ever read and the reason leading to her murder. As Rainy journeys across Lake Superior, he takes the novel with him, trying to read it but burdened by the sadness it evokes through memories of Lark. However, Sol’s arrival and her love of the book change how Rainy eventually sees it: “It was different reading aloud to a tiny rapt human. Molly told her life as if she were that moment dreaming it into existence” (208). I Cheerfully Refuse reflects Rainy’s journey through grief to healing by showing how his relationship to the novel changes between the death of his wife and his new relationship with Sol. When Sol shows how interested she is in the novel, I Cheerfully Refuse transforms from a book of sadness to one of hope, in which the passages carry more meaning and excitement as Rainy watches Sol fall in love with it.
Plus, gain access to 8,600+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
By Leif Enger
Action & Adventure
View Collection
Books on Justice & Injustice
View Collection
Challenging Authority
View Collection
Class
View Collection
Class
View Collection
Community
View Collection
Earth Day
View Collection
Equality
View Collection
Fate
View Collection
Good & Evil
View Collection
Grief
View Collection
Hate & Anger
View Collection
Memory
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
Music
View Collection
Nation & Nationalism
View Collection
Order & Chaos
View Collection
Popular Book Club Picks
View Collection
Power
View Collection
Revenge
View Collection
Safety & Danger
View Collection
The Future
View Collection
Trust & Doubt
View Collection
Valentine's Day Reads: The Theme of Love
View Collection