53 pages • 1-hour read
I'll Have What She's Having
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Symbols & Motifs
Mallorca
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes cursing.
Chelsea Handler’s house in Mallorca, Spain, is symbolic of community. Handler references her time at and relationship with the Mallorca house repeatedly throughout the memoir. She particularly highlights the island’s and the house’s importance in the chapter “Mallorca Is the Tits.” The first time Handler ever visited Mallorca, she was awed that it was “mountainous, dramatic, and the size of a small country” (243). She spent this first visit biking around the island exploring orchards, vineyards, beaches, and coves, and quickly fell in love with the place. When she saw a for sale sign in front of “a dilapidated seaside villa” at the end of the trip, she was eager to purchase the house for herself (243). She felt an ineffable connection with the island and saw a future for herself here, however undefined it might be. This is why she defied her business managers’ advice not to buy the Mallorca house and quickly went through with the sale.
Since its purchase, Handler’s Mallorca house has become a refuge and a respite. Handler doesn’t always vacation alone here and most often invites her friends and family to join her. The house is located on the water and has a magical effect on everyone who stays there. Handler repeatedly underscores how important this place is for her and her friends, because it has let her create a safe space for her loved ones. She fosters community through the Mallorca house.
Whistler
Handler’s life and home in Whistler, a municipality in Canada’s British Columbia, are symbolic of self-love and self-care. Handler references her relationship with this place throughout the memoir, recurrent allusions which underscore the setting’s importance to her. Handler impulsively buys her Whistler chalet not long after visiting the mountainous skiing community for the first time. During COVID, she retreats to this venue in order to spend more time alone. The place offers her comfort and safety. It also grants her the opportunity to invest solely in herself. In the years following 2020, Handler has continued to regard the place as her personal refuge. When she’s here, she spends time reading, lighting fires, hanging out with her dogs, and skiing. She is surrounded by snowy landscapes and tucked away in her remote home. These environmental aspects of Whistler grant Handler a sense of calm. When she’s in Whistler, she is attending to herself.
Just as she does with her own heart, Handler also opens her Whistler home to others. Most notably, Handler invites Whoopsie and Oopsie to stay with her in Whistler during their break from school, a visit Handler relays in “Spring Break.” The place has a similarly healing and pacifying effect on the girls that it always has on Handler. She has used this place to heal herself, and in turn she uses it to heal those she loves.
Skiing
Skiing is symbolic of independence and empowerment. Handler references her skiing experiences throughout I’ll Have What She’s Having. The motif represents Handler’s consistent and ongoing work to claim who she is, what she needs, and how she wants to live. Handler first devotes herself to learning the sport after an embarrassing skiing date. In the wake of this experience, Handler spends “an entire season paying an instructor to each [her] how to ski properly” and ultimately makes “one of [her] dreams into a reality” (83). Handler’s determination to improve at the sport mirrors her determination in life; she is similarly intent on growing as a person as she is on growing as a skier.
Furthermore, skiing grants Handler a sense of autonomy and self-fulfillment. She feels like “the fucking boss” when she develops her skill and values the time she gets to spend outdoors alone (82). Most often when she’s in Whistler, she skis solo every day. This pastime conveys Handler’s newfound investment in herself. She feels confident and strong when she’s on the mountain. She also doesn’t need a companion in this context for her to enjoy her life. This is why, for example, Handler gets so frustrated with Donna and Lucy in “Skiing with the Elderly.” While she sacrifices her solo time to join the women, she ultimately separates herself from them when she realizes they are condescending and competitive. Handler sees skiing as a private source of pride, joy, and empowerment, and refuses to compromise this time for unsympathetic characters like Donna and Lucy.
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