Message In A Bottle

“But anything can happen when the flame of a relationship goes out, and for him, it did.”

Theresa employs a metaphor, comparing a relationship to a flame, when she describes her marriage to David. A flame is inconstant, flickering, and can quickly be snuffed out, not unlike a relationship in which partners can change and passion can fade. When the flame “[went] out” for David, he chose to be unfaithful to Theresa, figuratively burning her.

“I miss you, my darling, as I always do, but today is especially hard because the ocean has been singing to me, and the song is that of our life together.”

Garrett personifies the ocean with the human action of being able to sing in the letter Theresa finds on the beach. This hints at the incredibly important role the ocean played in his relationship with Catherine and foreshadows the ocean’s power to affect Garrett’s future. His comparison of their life together to a song is a metaphor that highlights his sense that their relationship was purposeful and tremendously harmonious.

“Life passes by now like the scenery outside a car window. I breathe and eat and sleep as I always did, but there seems to be no great purpose in my life that requires active participation on my part.”

In one of Garrett’s letters, he uses this simile to compare his life to the scenery whizzing by as one rides in a car. This characterizes him as a passive observer in his life after Catherine’s death, as though he is separated from life but can see it going on around him. His sentiment also echoes Theresa’s fear “that her life was slipping past her” (13), further connecting them emotionally.

“‘Well, if you’d like to go, I usually take her out after work. You’re welcome to come along this evening.’ Why he’d said that, he wasn’t exactly sure. […] But no matter the reason, he had just asked her to come with him, and there was nothing he could do to change it.”

Here, Garrett asks Theresa to go sailing with him, almost accidentally. It isn’t an invitation he considers before issuing it, but he is drawn to her in a way that he doesn’t anticipate. His actions and his immediate feelings for Theresa demonstrate Life’s Unpredictability.

“[F]or Garrett Blake, time had stopped three years ago when Catherine had stepped off the curb and was killed by an elderly man who lost control of his car and changed the lives of two separate families forever.”

This hyperbole, or overstatement, emphasizes the power of Garrett’s memory and grief. Time did not literally stop when Catherine died, but the event changed his world so much that it feels like it did. He has lived in a sort of limbo state since her accident, unable to move on. This highlights The Power of Memory because Garrett’s memories of Catherine paralyze him emotionally.

“Do you really think it’s possible for me to find someone else who’s good enough to take her place?”

Jeb says this to Garrett when Garrett asks why his father never took his own advice to move past his wife’s death and love again. Jeb regrets saying it, however, because it implies that falling in love again signals that a new woman is replacing the deceased beloved. If he allows someone to “replace” Catherine, Garrett would feel that he is horribly betraying her, worse even than the guilt he already feels when he meets Theresa. This statement and Garrett’s acceptance of it as truth demonstrate The Power of Memory.

“For the first time in what seemed like forever, she had done something completely spontaneous, something she couldn’t have imagined doing less than a week ago.”

This description captures Theresa’s dynamism as a character and suggests The Healing Power of Love. When she finds Garrett’s letter, she feels that life is passing her by and that she isn’t truly living. However, she jumps at the chance to impulsively travel to North Carolina to find this man who represents true, lasting love in her mind.

“In a way, when he looked at her, he was reminded of Catherine. Especially her expression. She looked as though she were daydreaming as she watched the water, and he felt his thoughts wandering back to the last time they had sailed together.”

Theresa has dark hair, while Catherine was blonde and petite. Nonetheless, Garrett is reminded of Catherine when he looks at Theresa, demonstrating The Power of Memory. The fact that his thoughts continually wander back to Catherine, even when he’s with Theresa, reinforces this connection.

“Why her, of all people? And why him? For months he had lain awake at night, asking himself ‘What if.’ What if she’d waited an extra second before crossing the street? What if they had lingered at breakfast for another few minutes? What if he’d gone with her that morning instead of going straight to the shop? A thousand what ifs, and he was no closer to understanding the whole thing than he had been when it first happened.”

Garrett’s ruminations about the day of Catherine’s accident prompt him to consider the myriad circumstances that could have been altered just slightly to allow her to live. That she happened to leave breakfast at just the right time, that he wasn’t with her, and that she stepped off the curb at precisely the moment the man lost control of his car suggests Life’s Unpredictability and the role happenstance plays.

“A woman who had somehow been able to open doors that he himself had nailed shut.”

Garrett’s thoughts reveal a metaphor in which he compares parts of his emotional life to locked rooms that have been easily opened by Theresa. This also suggests The Healing Power of Love because Theresa accesses the hidden emotions that Garrett has worked hard to repress for so long. Her love for him opens him up, figuratively speaking, making it possible for him to love again and move past his grief.

“First, why was he so attracted to Theresa? And second, why did he suddenly feel as if he were betraying Catherine?”

Garrett’s questions indicate The Power of Memory. His feelings for Catherine are still so present, her memory so immediate despite her dying three years prior to his meeting Theresa, that spending time with Theresa makes him feel like he’s being unfaithful to his wife. He has no rational reason to be contrite, only the strength of his memories to make him feel that he’s doing something wrong.

“She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling more alive than she had in a long time.”

While Theresa is at Garrett’s house for dinner, it occurs to her that she no longer has the sense of life passing her by, indicative of her dynamism as a character. Her willingness to step out of her typical patterns and embrace change emphasizes The Healing Power of Love. It’s not as if she were dead before, but to think that she feels “more alive” now shows that her life prior to finding love with Garrett was dull and muted in comparison.

“You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. Don’t throw it all away by living in the past.”

Jeb is very concerned that Garrett is going to deny himself a future by remaining stuck in the past with Catherine. The only reason such a possibility exists is due to The Power of Memory. Catherine doesn’t feel like part of his past because his memories of her are so vivid and close.

“Theresa, I think I’m in love with you.”

Garrett’s statement demonstrates The Healing Power of Love and reveals his dynamism as a character. Although he believes he cannot love again after Catherine’s death, within a week of meeting Theresa, he already feels love for her. However, his ambivalence—conveyed by his word choice, “think”—also emphasizes how powerful his memories of Catherine are. He feels love but struggles to definitively identify it due to his guilt.

“He was quiet for a moment. ‘I guess I’d wonder where we were gonna live.’ For the life of her, Theresa couldn’t think of a good response. Where indeed?”

On their way back to Boston from Wilmington, Kevin wonders where they will live if Theresa and Garrett decide to marry. Theresa not only cannot answer his question, but she also wonders about the same thing. This foreshadows the fact that the question of location will become a major issue for Theresa and Garrett’s relationship.

“‘Did you think you were going to lose me?’ ‘Yes,’ he said quietly, ‘and I promise not to ever let it happen again.’”

In one of Garrett’s dreams, he nearly loses Catherine when she gets too close to a cliff’s edge. He promises her that he will never come so close to losing her again, and when he wakes up, he contemplates ending his relationship with Theresa because she lives so far away. This helps to demonstrate The Power of Memory in that Garrett allows his memories of Catherine to nearly edge out a real relationship with a living, breathing woman. It could also indicate that he would rather avoid a relationship altogether than risk losing the woman he loves again.

“Each time Garrett talked to Theresa, he found himself feeling a little more renewed.”

Garrett’s emotional progress demonstrates The Healing Power of Love. His sense of “renew[al]” is the direct result of his growing love for Theresa and her love for him. Nothing in his life changes outside of this relationship; thus, it is this love that helps him begin to heal from his grief and terrible loss.

“‘So, in other words, you’re telling me that you’re completely over Catherine?’ Though he felt the expectant weight of his father’s gaze, Garrett didn’t know the answer.”

When Garrett tells Jeb that he wants to marry Theresa, Jeb correctly identifies Garrett’s emotional ambivalence. He can tell that Garrett is not completely “over” Catherine, and he worries for Garrett’s future with Theresa as a result. The fact that Garrett himself isn’t sure if he’s truly ready to move on demonstrates The Power of Memory to affect our choices.

“‘Besides,’ Brian added, ‘you’ll understand it better when you live with it full-time. After a while, you’ll understand it almost as well as they do. I know I do.’ The comment was not lost on him. When you live with it full-time?”

When Garrett and Theresa have dinner with Deanna and Brian in Boston, Brian compares the women’s relationship to that of twins. He claims that he can understand them because he’s had lots of practice, suggesting that Garrett will develop this level of understanding once he’s around it “full-time.” Garrett realizes that they all expect him to move to Boston, something that scares him, in part, because his life with Catherine was in Wilmington. This realization prompts him to pressure Theresa to move to North Carolina, causing a rift in their relationship.

“To her, it almost sounded as if he were trying to re-create his relationship with Catherine.”

When Garrett asks Theresa to move to North Carolina, she worries that he isn’t ready to move on from Catherine and that he is trying to recreate the conditions of their marriage with her. Garrett is unwilling to consider a move despite Theresa’s career with the paper and her son’s life in Boston. This is another testament to The Power of Memory; it keeps Garrett tied to a specific place, even when his new love isn’t there.

“‘When you first told me about her, I saw the way you looked…it was obvious that you still loved her. And last night—despite your anger—I saw the same look again. Even after all the time we’ve spent together, you’re still not over her. And then…the things you said…’ She took a deep, uneven breath. ‘You weren’t angry simply because I found the letters, you were angry because you felt I threatened what you and Catherine shared—and still do.’”

Theresa has long recognized The Power of Memory to affect her present relationship with Garrett. She has watched him get lost in reminiscences time and again, and she believes—even now—that he is not over Catherine and, perhaps, never will be. It is for this reason, and because she cannot compete with a dead woman’s memory, that she ends their relationship.

“It couldn’t be coming that fast, he suddenly thought. But the storm seemed to be gaining speed and strength, expanding like a balloon, coming directly toward him.”

The narrator uses a simile to characterize the storm and its movement over the ocean. The simile compares the way the storm swells to a balloon that is quickly inflated. Such a balloon goes from a small and flimsy sack to a much larger and firmer object when filled with air. Thus, the storm’s capricious nature is highlighted, demonstrating Life’s Unpredictability once again.

“Like an executioner’s swing, the wave smashed against the boat with terrible finality, forcing Happenstance onto her side, the mast and sails crashing into the water.”

The narrator uses a simile to compare the wave that knocks the Happenstance onto her side to the swing of an executioner’s sword. This comparison reinforces the “terrible finality” of the wave’s destruction and suggests that there’s simply no coming back from its effects. Connotatively, this simile is incredibly dark and portentous, which is apt because Garrett does not survive the storm.