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Summary
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dark Roots, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Ageism and Misogyny
Beauty Standards and Self-Image
The Role of Honesty in Relationships
Summary
Analysis
The unnamed protagonist, narrating from a second-person perspective, walks into her house and hears the phone ringing. She lets the call go to voicemail and, hearing that the caller is her lover, Paul, feels a rush of endorphins. Even though people tend to think this sensation is “love,” she notes, it’s really “chemical,” and it drowns out the quieter voice of caution.
This opening scene establishes the mental state that will drive the protagonist’s actions throughout the story. Immediately, the reader knows that the protagonist is liable to succumb to her own emotions and chase the high of her relationship. The fact that this impulse overshadows her other, perhaps more rational instinct for treading carefully into this new relationship is essential to understanding the protagonist’s inability to heed her own rational inner voice throughout the story.
Active
Themes
The protagonist visits the doctor and receives a prescription for birth control pills. She and the doctor discuss side effects, and she reminisces about the first time she was on birth control at age 22. She reflects on the differences between her slim, toned body at that time and her body now at age 39. Her doctor warns her about the potential side effect of an increase in appetite. When the doctor makes a comment about her age, she feels defensive.
This scene introduces the story’s interest in ageism, its intersection with certain kinds of misogyny, and the many related beauty standards that ultimately impact the protagonist’s self-image. The casual nature of the doctor’s comments and warnings about both the protagonist’s age and the possibility of weight gain show how normalized unrealistic standards for women are. Furthermore, it shows that these two themes are deeply intertwined. This scene also introduces the symbol of the contraceptive pills, which will appear throughout the story to represent the ways that the protagonist puts aside her own needs in service of the needs (or the needs that she imagines) of her partner.
Active
Themes
The protagonist tells her friends that Paul is 13 years younger than her. She feels the need for her friends to be supportive and, as she hoped, they comment that, if the age difference were reversed, nobody would bat an eye. The protagonist lies about Paul’s job as an academic (he’s still finishing his PhD) and later wonders why she lied. That night, as the protagonist takes the first birth control pill, she reflects on the compliments people have been giving her as of late, identifying the cause as the lust she feels for Paul.
The protagonist begins to put more effort into her appearance on a day-to-day basis. She muses on the “Older Woman” fantasy, suspecting that it is more common than people admit and describing it as an alternative way to live one’s life. In an impulsive moment and in an attempt to keep Paul’s interest, she dyes her hair red. She reminds herself that she must stay vigilant about maintaining her appearance, fearing that letting go of these concerns will cause her to lose Paul.
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The protagonist, becoming more comfortable, continues to talk with her friends about Paul, telling the story of their meeting at a film screening where the two happened to be seated next to one another. She tells her friends that, after the screening, she and Paul went for a drink and talked about the film. Her friends lovingly tease her about both the date and her age, but the protagonist can tell that they are listening with interest.
Active
Themes
As her relationship with Paul progresses, the protagonist struggles with insecurity about her body and appearance. One week into taking her birth control pills, she develops a side effect that the doctor warned her about: increased appetite. The protagonist becomes even more vigilant and anxious about her appearance, obsessing over the way her body will look on her upcoming trip with Paul to the coast.
As the protagonist continues to take her birth control pills, she worries that she will never have the chance to have a child. Though she used to “fervently [avoid]” having children, now she fears she’ll be “one of those nuisance women” desperately seeking fertility treatments as her biological clock winds down. She continues to dye her hair, overwhelmed by the maintenance of her dark roots and gray hairs. As side effects from her birth control continue with a new layer of unwanted facial hair, she puts more effort into hiding them.
On their romantic getaway to the coast, the protagonist observes the ways that Paul’s behavior differs from her own. Whereas he sits in the sun and buys fatty food without fear of consequences to his skin or his weight, the protagonist despises herself for eating fish and chips with him and sitting in the sun, fearing consequences to her own body. She avoids looking at her own reflection and worries about what Paul might think of her skin. She continues to take her birth control, despite its side effects and avoids discussing her desire for children with Paul.
While shopping in a department store, the protagonist despairs at the sight of her gray hair and cellulite, for which she blames her eating habits on her vacation with Paul, in the changing room mirror. She questions the “ridiculous lingerie” and the jeans that she has tried on. She spirals further into this inner crisis, wondering why she is “wasting her time with this guy” rather than finding someone her own age who also wants to have children. She resolves to double down on her efforts to hide her insecurities and her age, buying more hair dye and making an appointment for a leg wax.
The protagonist goes to her leg wax appointment. She chats with the wax technician and is surprised to learn that men also wax their bodies. The protagonist reflects on her recent argument with Paul, where he expressed his frustration at her anxiety about her appearance. As the protagonist goes through the pain of the wax, she continues to discuss others’ hair-removal habits with the technician, disgusted by the expectation for women to be hairless. The protagonist leaves mid-wax, having reached her pain limit.
