50 pages 1 hour read

Jodi Picoult

Wish You Were Here

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

A 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

Art

Art as a recurring motif is used to support more than one theme that the book addresses. The story begins with an anecdote of Diana and her father painting a ceiling, and this establishes the parabolic trajectory that the story will eventually take. Similarly, the theme of adaptation and evolution for survival is highlighted by art in multiple places. In pre-pandemic New York, Diana works at Sotheby’s, where art is how she earns a living. Similarly, on Isabela, art helps her survive; she bonds with Beatriz by making and talking about art together, and she uses her skill for portraiture to barter and procure resources at the local market. Once back in New York, a changed Diana eventually moves into the practice of art therapy.

Art is further used to serve the theme of love through the history of the fictional Toulouse-Latrec painting. From its creation to its latest owner, it follows a trail of lovers who come together despite unconventional circumstances and eventually tragic endings; its provenance is that of “devotion so fierce, it scorches the earth with tragedy and lays waste to those who experience it” (102). This is mirrored in the many romantic relationships in the book—Gabriel and Luz, Beatriz and Ana Maria, Gabriel, and Diana, and eventually Diana and Finn as well.

Related Titles

By Jodi Picoult

Study Guide

logo

A Spark of Light

Jodi Picoult

A Spark of Light

Jodi Picoult

Plot Summary

logo

Between the Lines

Jodi Picoult, Samantha van Leer

Between the Lines

Jodi Picoult, Samantha van Leer

Study Guide

logo

By Any Other Name

Jodi Picoult

By Any Other Name

Jodi Picoult

Study Guide

logo

Handle With Care

Jodi Picoult

Handle With Care

Jodi Picoult

Study Guide

logo

House Rules

Jodi Picoult

House Rules

Jodi Picoult

Study Guide

logo

Leaving Time

Jodi Picoult

Leaving Time

Jodi Picoult

Study Guide

logo

Mad Honey

Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan

Mad Honey

Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan

Study Guide

logo

My Sister's Keeper

Jodi Picoult

My Sister's Keeper

Jodi Picoult

Study Guide

logo

The Book of Two Ways

Jodi Picoult

The Book of Two Ways

Jodi Picoult

Study Guide

logo

The Storyteller

Jodi Picoult

The Storyteller

Jodi Picoult

Plot Summary

logo

The Tenth Circle

Jodi Picoult

The Tenth Circle

Jodi Picoult

Study Guide

logo

Vanishing Acts

Jodi Picoult

Vanishing Acts

Jodi Picoult