40 pages • 1-hour read
Message In A Bottle
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Themes
Life’s Unpredictability
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and pregnancy loss.
The novel’s exploration of life’s unpredictability begins as early as its Prologue, in which a bottle holding a message could “break if dropped a few feet from the ground” or become “one of the most seaworthy objects known to [humanity]” (1). A single mishap could result in the bottle’s destruction, or it could go on to “float safely through hurricanes or tropical storms” (1) and eventually wash up somewhere to begin a different journey, like the bottle Theresa finds. In short, the bottle’s trajectory is unpredictable, as are the circumstances that lead Theresa to find it; likewise, the letter’s effect on her is different from the effect Garrett’s other letters had on other finders. Thus, the symbolism and fate of the bottle, Catherine’s accident, the Happenstance, and Garrett’s death all demonstrate how unpredictable life can be.
Catherine’s death is utterly random, a fluke accident that occurs when an elderly man loses control of his vehicle just as she steps off the curb. Neither she nor the driver of the vehicle could have anticipated it, and if he’d lost control or she’d stepped out two seconds later, the entire accident might have been avoided. It is a massive coincidence, then, that the boat she and Garrett renovated should be named the Happenstance, a word synonymous with accident, chance, or coincidence. Like the bottle’s lucky trajectory, Catherine’s unlucky accident, and the apt naming of a boat that eventually sinks, Garrett opines, “Life doesn’t often turn out the way we think it will” (123). He never imagines that one of his letters could lead to a new love or that his pregnant wife would die or that he would misjudge a storm’s speed and violence so catastrophically.
Garrett never expected his message to reach someone like Theresa or have the effect on her that it does. Theresa’s and Deanna’s research skills also enable them to find him much more quickly than someone else might. Not even Garrett is prepared for the way Theresa makes him feel when they do meet. He surprises himself when he invites her to go sailing and, the next day, when he invites her to dinner. He is even more stunned to realize that “he felt happy, something he hadn’t felt in a long time” (176). His death, which comes immediately after he determines, once and for all, to overcome his grief and loss of Catherine to be fully present for a relationship with Theresa, is unpredictable and ironic, considering his expertise as a sailor. The book, like the boat, could be aptly named Happenstance because it so deeply explores the myriad ways in which life can shock and surprise.
The Healing Power of Love
Love’s ability to heal first becomes evident in Theresa’s response to Garrett’s three letters. Although she’s been feeling as though life has been passing her by since her husband cheated on her, reading Garrett’s poignant letter renews her faith in love and her belief that she can find it again. This possibility of healing prompts her to travel to North Carolina to meet him. Theresa and Garrett’s relationship demonstrates love’s ability to heal people who have been hurt or who have experienced loss.
Theresa’s faith in love is healed and restored by Garrett’s letters, as is her belief that she can fall in love again after her divorce: “The more she had come to know Garrett, the more she believed that she was destined to find his messages to Catherine, as if there were some great force that had directed them to her, with the intention of bringing them together” (202). She feels happy when she’s with him, even though his sense of loss continues to influence their relationship.
Theresa’s love helps Garrett to heal from his wife’s unexpected death. He begins to feel happy again when he’s with her and ultimately, he stops feeling that he is “betraying” Catherine. He even describes the days he spends with her as “the best days [he’s] had in a long time” (186). Once he realizes that holding on to Catherine will require him to let go of Theresa, he gains the perspective he needs to choose the woman who can still love him back. Of himself, he says, “Like a man who gazes only backward on a trip across the country, I ignored what lay ahead” (360), but with Theresa’s love, he gains the courage to look forward again.
Ultimately, though Theresa is devastated by Garrett’s death, knowing that he found the strength to move on after Catherine gives her faith in the possibility of finding love again. After she receives his final message, after his death, she writes to him, “Because you were able to fall in love with me, you have given me hope, my darling. You taught me that it’s possible to move forward in life, no matter how terrible your grief” (369). Garrett’s ability to love her after the tragic loss of his wife renews Theresa’s belief in love, healing her heart from the damage David did and giving her the push she needs to move on from her own grief and sense of loss.
The Power of Memory
Garrett’s memories of Catherine are so powerful, even after she’s been gone for several years, that they almost prevent him from accepting the love Theresa offers. Even when they are together, he often gets lost in memories of Catherine, and his feelings about Theresa are frequently impacted by his remembrances. Catherine’s memory is so potent that it interferes with Garrett’s ability to function in the present and embrace new opportunities for relationships.
Garrett is often distracted by his memories, even when he’s with Theresa, and this demonstrates how powerful memory can be. The first time they go sailing together, he is “suddenly overcome by the fragment of a memory, long buried but shaken loose, perhaps by the newness of this woman’s presence” (118). He is overcome by memories in this way three different times on his first date with Theresa. Even as their feelings develop while they spend more time together, visiting each other’s homes and so on, Garrett is constantly pulled back into his past by his memories: “He loved Theresa more than he ever thought he could…but he still loved Catherine…. Was it possible to love them both at once?” he wonders (283). Garrett loves them both, though one is only a memory now; yet he still puts his love for Catherine on a level with his love for Theresa: a living, breathing woman who can and does return his feelings.
Garrett’s memory is so powerful that others are aware of the way it interferes in this relationship. When he tells Jeb that he wants to marry Theresa, Jeb says, “I want to make sure it’s because of the way you feel about Theresa—and that it doesn’t have anything to do with Catherine” (298). In fact, Catherine’s memory is still so strong, so intrusive, that Jeb feels he must remind his son that “marriage is between two people, not three” (298). When Garrett considers his father’s concerns, he realizes that he isn’t sure that he’s “over” Catherine, despite wanting to ask Theresa to be his wife. Theresa, herself, understands this intuitively, telling Garrett, “I can’t compete with her” (331). She knows that his memories of Catherine loom so large in his life that Catherine feels like a competitor for his attention and emotions. In short, memory is so powerful that Garrett’s recollections of his deceased wife compete with his new relationship, the only one with an actual future.
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