Something Borrowed

Dex’s dice symbolize Rachel’s passivity and demonstrate her struggle to become an active participant in her life. Instead of confronting Dex about their situation, as they agreed to do that weekend, Rachel decides to put her faith in the dice Dex bought. When he rolls double sixes, she takes it as a sign that their relationship will work out. Deeming the double sixes “Our fate” (185), Rachel reassures herself that she and Dex “are in love and meant to be together, and the dice confirmed everything” (186). Rachel has no guarantees until she takes matters into her own hands. That Rachel hides behind a roll of the dice shows her continued inability to act in her own self-interest.

Rachel’s investment in the dice is so extreme that she keeps them, placing them in one of Dex’s discarded mint boxes. When Darcy finds them and appears as though she’s about to roll them, Rachel decides she will “wrestle them from her before I let her reroll them” (227). In that moment, Darcy holds Rachel’s fate in her hands, and Rachel will do anything to stop her from interfering. However, when Darcy asks about them, Rachel simply refers to them as her “lucky dice” (227) without any further explanation. She doesn’t want to convey to Darcy how much the pair of dice serves as a symbol of her future happiness. Only when Rachel gains the courage and confidence to tell Dex what she wants does she stop depending on the dice to dictate her future.