58 pages • 1 hour read
Ruth WareThe Woman in Cabin 10
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Drowning
Images of drowning are the most common in the novel. Early in the novel, Lo describes falling asleep as being pulled under, as if she were drowning, and ultimately Lo does nearly drown in the frigid North Sea, deep in the fjords of Norway. Drowning as a motif is symbolic of Lo's loss of control. As she fights the currents in the North Sea, she sees lights at the corner of her vision that she compares to the flashing lights she experiences while having a panic attack. Drowning becomes not only a literal plot point of the novel, but also a symbol of Lo's mental illness, and the power it has over her. Lo fears this powerlessness, and experiences it often after the burglary, when she is having panic attacks and flashbacks related to post-traumatic stress. Lo's fear of drowning only intensifies after she witnesses the murder of Anne Bullmer, who is dumped in the sea. The haunting nature of the drowning motif is indicative of Lo's fight to remain metaphorically above water as she struggles with mental health and threats to her physical body.
White
White is a symbol of luxury in the novel. The Aurora is decorated almost entirely in flowy, white fabrics, and Lo notes how impractical a color choice white is for a public vessel. The ship itself is also painted white, as Lo revels when she stains the ship's perfect paint job with her vomit after she throws up over the railing of the deck. The crystal chandelier in the lounge casts blinding white light, and the blinding nature of the crystals obscure the reality of life aboard the ship. The luxury that the white fixtures provide is an illusion, and as the novel progresses, white becomes a symbol not only of elegance and luxury, but also of illusions and false fronts. The perfect white exterior of the ship is marred by its seedy underbelly. This is made particularly clear when Lo puts on Carrie's white silk clothing to disguise herself, and Carrie screams that she can't kneel in blood, as it would ruin the disguise, or the illusion of a flawless, elegant exterior.
Doors
Doors are one of the earliest symbols in the novel; in the first chapters, Lo is trapped behind her own bedroom door after the burglar locks her inside. Later, doors are slammed shut, leaving Lo in the darkness, and Lo is trapped in a dark cell behind a closed door in the bowels of the ship. Doors are symbolic of Lo's fear of entrapment, and the illusion of safety. At many moments in the novel, doors become a way for Lo to exercise control over her body and her space. She hires a locksmith to secure her apartment door, and bolts her cabin door aboard the Aurora. One of the most disturbing moments in the novel is Lo's realization that despite her closed and chained doors, her cabin is still not safe from intruders. Symbolically, doors seem to taunt Lo throughout the novel; when she is trying to secure herself behind them, they fail her, and when she wants them open, they trap her. Because they are never truly under her control, doors provide only the illusion of safety for Lo. This illusion furthers Lo's fear of being trapped–that fear stems from her fear of powerlessness, and her lack of control over the doors both in her home and aboard the ship only intensify that fear.
Alcohol
Alcohol as a motif plays a more significant role in the first half of the book than the second; that being said, its disappearance in the second half of the book is symbolic of Lo's clarity of mind, and her reliability. Lo uses alcohol to cope with the trauma from her burglary, and it clouds her thinking. In this way, alcohol becomes a symbol of Lo's self-doubt. Later, when alcohol is used against her by Ben and Nilsson to discredit her story, Lo wonders if some element of her argument might be valid. In the second half of the novel, Lo makes a conscious choice to avoid alcohol, which indicates her growing self-confidence, and her faith in her own story. As the alcohol disappears, and thus Lo's self-doubt, Lo becomes a more reliable narrator. She also becomes more resilient and more confident in her ability to rescue herself from the circumstances in which she finds herself. Her growing self-confidence facilitates her eventual rescue; without it, she wouldn't have made it out of that cabin.
Northern Lights
The northern lights, or the aurora borealis, is a less frequent but deeply significant motif in the novel, namely because it shares a name with the cruise liner that leads Lo to her near-demise. Richard Bullmer is obsessed with the northern lights, and directs the ship north, diverting from the original itinerary, to see them more quickly, and more clearly. The lights don't appear again until Lo escapes from the ship, and wanders into the mountains of the fjords. She believes, at first, that they are a false dawn, and isn't nearly as impressed by the glimmering lights as she imagined she would be. The northern lights become a symbol of disillusionment for Lo. Though in her work before, Lo was drawn to the luxury of Caribbean vacations and wealth, she realizes after her trip on the Aurora that this kind of excursion provides only a false sense of significance. Bullmer's association and obsession with the lights only solidifies this disillusionment. The northern lights become a kind of false dawn, or false sense of hope, which Lo rejects in favor of real light and meaning.
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By Ruth Ware
