The Right Move
59 pages • 1-hour read
Liz TomfordeThe Right Move
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Symbols & Motifs
Color
Color functions as a motif of the theme of Vulnerability as a Prerequisite for Healing, signifying emotional openness and the willingness to let another person reshape one’s inner world. Ryan’s apartment exists in strict monochrome before Indy arrives, and its black-and-white palette reflect the years of self-imposed isolation and depression that followed Marissa’s betrayal. When Indy moves in, she immediately registers the void, observing, “I’ve been to this apartment a handful of times since I met Stevie, but it never looked this empty and…lonely. Stevie is as bright as I am. I guess all the color left when she did” (14). Her comment underscores the thematic link between color and emotional warmth and frames Ryan’s carefully controlled environment as a stagnant space where nothing is permitted to grow or change.
Indy disrupts the apartment’s visual landscape with lavender blankets, yellow curtains, a rainbow-organized bookshelf, and green plants that require the kind of sustained attention Ryan has refused to give anything beyond basketball. Her name itself is an essential example of the motif: Indigo, shortened to Indy, is nicknamed Blue by Ryan in a moment of genuine laughter that marks their first real connection. Ryan’s growing tolerance of color in his space charts his emotional thaw. He steals a succulent from the living room for his bedroom dresser, a small concession that signals his desire for life beyond his sealed-off routine. When he later tells Indy he no longer sees black and white but instead “pink-painted toes, purple clothes, green plants” and “so much fucking Blue” (397), the confession reframes color as synonymous with love itself, proof that vulnerability has permanently altered how he perceives his world.
The Bucket Lists
The “Book Boyfriend How-To” and “Indy-pendent Woman 101” bucket lists also serve as motifs of Vulnerability as a Prerequisite for Healing by providing the two main characters with a conscious and structured path toward recovery from their trauma. Created at an early stage of Indy and Ryan’s fake-dating arrangement, the lists spell out the work required to overcome their deepest insecurities. For Ryan, the “Book Boyfriend” list forces him out of his emotional isolation by requiring him to perform acts of vulnerability, such as “show some jealousy” and “plan a date […] in public” (74). These tasks, initially part of a ruse, compel him to dismantle the emotional walls he has built. For Indy, the “Indy-pendent Woman” list challenges her codependency and fear of solitude by assigning tasks like going to dinner alone. These assignments push her to build the self-reliance she lost in her previous relationship. This reciprocal structure is established when Ryan states, “You can teach me how to be with someone, as long as I get to teach you how to be alone” (74). The lists express the novel’s central message that healing is an active, intentional process. By methodically checking off items, Ryan and Indy are not just faking a relationship but are actively practicing the skills needed for a healthy one. The lists illustrate that overcoming deep-seated betrayal and fear requires both a willingness to be vulnerable with another person and a commitment to one’s own independent growth.
Romance Novels
Romance novels function as a symbol of Indy’s faith in love, and her evolving connection with these books reflects her character growth. Despite her difficult relationship with Alex, she remains committed to her belief that love exists beyond what she has known. From the moment she moves into Ryan’s apartment, her books announce themselves: Covers featuring shirtless men crowd Ryan’s alphabetized shelves, and her current read always sits on the coffee table. In addition to offering Indy entertainment, the novels supply her with a vocabulary for the love she believes she deserves, one built on devotion, vulnerability, and reciprocity. Her “Book Boyfriend How-To” bucket list for Ryan draws from these fictional templates, treating them as instructional texts for emotional availability. When Ryan asks why she prefers fiction, Indy explains that “[t]he beauty of fiction is that it makes you feel things on a visceral level” (365), and she defends the romance genre’s capacity to cultivate empathy by allowing readers to experience others’ perspectives.
The books also chart Ryan’s softening. He initially mocks the conventional cover art featuring “shirtless dudes” and dismisses the genre, but when he reads a single page aloud with Indy straddling his lap, his reaction is immediate and genuine, recognizing the writing as a guide to intimacy he has long avoided. His willingness to engage with her reading world mirrors his broader willingness to let her reshape his emotional life. Most significantly, the symbol completes its arc when Indy admits that she no longer needs to read for escapism and “live in someone else’s reality” because she enjoys her own (365). That confession transforms the romance novels from a lifeline into a keepsake, proving that the co-protagonist’s lived experience has finally surpassed her most idealistic fiction.
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