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Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in One Day, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Relationships and Time
Social Class
Coming of Age and the Search for Meaning
Addiction and Recovery
Summary
Analysis
Thursday July 15, 2004. Dexter has new gray hairs growing out his ears and eyebrows and now feels middle aged. He knows he’s still handsome, but his neck has started to sag in strange ways. He tells Emma he feels fat, and she recommends eating less cheese from his shop. It’s a slightly anxious time because two of them have sold their flat and placed several of their possessions in storage. They had hoped to find a house before they had to move out but are cutting it close. They have plans to see a house that afternoon.
Dexter’s gray hairs mark another sign that his youth is ending. His weight gain also shows how his past actions are starting to catch up with him and that even though he eats and drinks less now than he did in his youth, it has a greater effect on his body. Once again, although Dexter and Emma have a happy relationship, challenging tasks like finding a place to live can put stress on even a healthy, well-adjusted relationship.
Themes
Emma tells Dexter with disappointment that she just had her period. He tries to cheer her up and says they’ll try again. Together, they read the news, and Emma gets worked up about how no one seems to be protesting the Iraq War. She blames students for getting more passive than they were during Vietnam. Dexter is a little annoyed and says Emma herself should just go out and protest. Dexter says maybe people don’t care and think it’s good Saddam Hussein is gone.
Emma’s disappointment about not being pregnant show how some of her values have changed. Meanwhile, her opposition to the Iraq War shows how her other values have remained the same over the years. Dexter’s indifferent and less fully formed political views present a greater challenge now that he and Emma are married.
Themes
Emma and Dexter continue to argue about Iraq. He thinks what she’s really angry about is how she herself has become complacent over the years. Emma gets angry at him for changing the subject. She thinks the Iraq War isn’t about human rights but about oil. Dexter thinks oil is a decent reason to enter a war because everyone uses it. He says he thinks Emma is really just disappointed about getting her period.
Themes
Emma asks Dexter why he seems to get so embarrassed discussing politics. He denies that and says he just finds the subject boring. Emma asks Dexter if she bores him. He denies that too.
Themes
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Dexter and Emma talk about trying to get pregnant. They’ve been trying for two years, and Dexter says he feels like Emma looks at him like he’s disappointing her. Emma apologizes for taking it out on him. She suggests going to a fertility clinic. Dexter resists at first, but Emma says they don’t have much time left, given her age. To his surprise, she suggests that they might have to go to a private doctor instead of the National Health Service to avoid a wait list.
Themes
Dexter gets ready for work, having patched things up with Emma for the moment. They plan to see the house later, then cook dinner that evening. Emma kisses Dexter goodbye and jokes that Maddy, the manager who works under Dexter at the café, seems to have a crush on Dexter, so he shouldn’t keep her waiting.
Themes
Emma thinks about how she sometimes misses the intensity of her early time with Dexter but who the two of them still have fun in their own way. Still, she wonders if her 22-year-old self would see her current self as a sellout. She thinks it’s probably true, though she also acknowledges that her younger self had her own flaws: she used to be so judgmental and self-righteous. Now, Emma supposes it’s ridiculous to expect songs, books, or films to change her life at 38 the way they did at 22. Still, now she loves someone who loves her back. When people ask how she met Dexter, she says they grew up together.
Emma goes to work on her fifth Julie Criscoll novel, which has been giving her problems. It ends up with a more melancholy tone as teenaged Julie gets pregnant and has to choose between being a mother and going to university. She want to finish the series so that she can get started on writing the type of book her younger self would admire.
Themes
Meanwhile, Dexter is in the stock room of his café working on completing a quarterly tax form. He struggles to concentrate thinking of how he argued with Emma that morning, so he calls her cell phone, which she doesn’t pick up at work, and leaves a voice mail. He says he loves her and that he has a good feeling about the house they’re going to see that afternoon.
Themes
Emma works until 2:00, then she goes for a swim as usual. After swimming, she listens to Dexter’s voicemail on her cell phone and is happy. She calls to say she’s excited to see the house but might be five minutes late. She apologizes for arguing earlier and says things have just been crazy lately. It’s raining heavily as she rides her bike from the indoor pool to meet Dexter. All of a sudden, something hits her from the side. She is disoriented at first, and she doesn’t know why she’s on the ground without her bicycle. People around her ask if she’s OK, and she realizes she’s not. She imagines Dexter waiting for her in the rain on the steps of their new potential house. Then she dies on the pavement.
Themes
