58 pages • 1-hour read
The Impossible Fortune
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.
The Car Bomb
Across the novel, Osman uses the motif of bombs to indirectly highlight The Importance of Friendship and Community in contrast to the corruptive power of greed. The first time a bomb appears in the text, it is affixed to the bottom of Nick’s car, left there by his long-time friend and business partner, who’s willing to murder him to secure their Bitcoin fortune for herself. The fact that Nick never suspects Holly as the would-be killer—his thoughts go immediately to Davey and Lord Townes when he finds the explosive—emphasizes greed as a corrosive force. The bomb also suggests that it can be difficult to know who one’s real friends are until an extreme situation reveals them..
The explosive, destructive, and unexpected nature of bombs allows Osman to contextualize the futility of greed against the things that truly matter. Ultimately, Holly’s greed destroys her when the bomb she intended for Nick takes her life. Reflecting on this event and the meaning of the entire episode, Joyce writes, “When a bomb goes off in life, it tends to grab your attention, doesn’t it? But when I think back to that evening now, all I remember is Kendrick, in his pajamas, holding Ron’s hand. That was where the story was all along, wasn’t it?” (343). Joyce cannot recall the heat of the fire that consumed Holly and her vehicle, and she forgets many details that were so salient to the investigation. What she remembers is the small, sweet moment between a frightened little boy and his grandpa, as well as the reason Kendrick was there in the first place: to be kept safely at a distance from his scared, abused mother, who feared her husband’s retaliation.
Joyce compares the way the bomb occupied their attention, and how it distracted them—for a short while—from what is most significant: “We were all looking at the bomb. All that heat and noise. So we missed what was important. When things are noisy, and everyone is asking you to look at something right this instant, we mustn’t forget all the things still going on in quiet corners” (343). Osman emphasizes that the love between friends and family endures and nurtures, while greed destroys.
The Bitcoin Code
The Bitcoin code that Nick and Holly believe to be worth more than a quarter of a billion pounds symbolizes the destructive power of greed. As the value of the Bitcoin climbs to 350 million pounds, many of the characters commit increasingly heinous crimes to get their hands on it. Yet, the novel’s climax reveals that the Bitcoin itself is worth nothing—a con perpetuated by Davey to cheat Nick and Holly—pointing to the empty pursuit of profit at the expense of life’s most meaningful relationships. Holly’s attempt to gain access to Nick’s half of the code represents a betrayal of their trust. Davey telling Holly to “play fair” in her dealings with Nick highlights his hypocrisy, as he neglected to play fair when he gave the partners a fake code. Danny is all too willing to kill Ron for the Bitcoin, and his greed blinds him to the danger Connie and Ron pose. The code, and the faux fortune it represents, persuades people to be dishonest, hypocritical, greedy, and even murderous. The code—which is inherently worthless—calls attention to what is really important: one’s friends, family, and integrity.
Nick’s posture toward the code underscores the damaging effects of greed. He notes that he “wishes the money had never existed; it has been nothing but a curse […]. If he’s honest with himself, it had begun to destroy his friendship with Holly” years ago (350). Nick had wanted to cash it out immediately, which would have—unbeknownst to him—revealed Noakes’s deception and prevented the attempt on his life as well as Holly’s own death. He thinks, “It was greed, nothing more, nothing less, not that [Holly] would ever admit that to anyone, even herself” (350). Osman contrasts Nick’s priorities—a job he loves, a family, a purpose—with Holly’s desire to secure the Bitcoin fortune by betraying and murdering one of her oldest friends. Holly’s death and Nick’s eventual safety represent a kind of poetic justice within the world of the story.
Jasper’s Porcelain Cats
Osman uses Jasper’s collection of porcelain cats to highlight his loneliness and isolation, underscoring the novel’s thematic interest in Navigating the Complexities of Aging. Elizabeth’s former colleague, Jasper, has an extensive collection of porcelain cats. The first time Joyce and Elizabeth visit him, Joyce asks about them, assuming he must have a great love for them since he has so many and displays them so prominently. Jasper reveals that the cats were given to him, as gifts, mostly by people who are no longer living. He kept them, for years, just in case someone who gave him one came over and looked for theirs. When Joyce learns that Jasper hates them and keeps them around to please others, then out of habit alone, she insists that she and Elizabeth help him to rid his home of these unnecessary and displeasing tchotchkes.
Unlike the close-knit group at Coopers Chase, Jasper has no family and no social circle, and—worse—he seems to have no idea how to acquire one. When Joyce points out that he could have people over and clear away the cats, Jasper asks who would come. He has become so used to being alone that he doesn’t even bother to keep tea in the house because there’s no one to drink it. However, almost immediately after Joyce suggests it, he rushes out to buy some. Jasper has spent his life engaged in espionage, so—without family and friends—all he has left are the memories of his youth, when he had people to give him gifts, even ones he didn’t particularly like. Joyce’s encouragement offers him hope that it’s never too late to begin building community and seeking out companionship.
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