Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Immortalists, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Fate vs. Choice
Family and Shared History
Obsession
Death, Meaning, and Legacy
Surviving vs. Living
Magic, Religion, Dance, and Possibility
Summary
Analysis
The next day, Varya explains the two major theories about what prolongs life to Luke: the first is to suppress the reproductive system, and the second is to suppress caloric intake, which is the focus of her study. The people of Okinawa, she relays, have the highest life expectancy in the world because their diet is very nutritious and low in calories. On a restricted diet, the body is constantly dealing with low-level stress, which teaches it how to deal with stress long-term. Luke replies that that doesn’t sound very enjoyable, and that it sounds like Varya is saying people can choose to live or choose to survive.
Varya and Luke’s exchange evokes the primary theme of her section: living versus surviving. Here Luke posits that the cost of being able to live a long time may be too high if it requires severely restricting one’s caloric intake or placing the body constantly under stress. Just because a person lives longer, he implies, does not necessarily mean they live a better or more enjoyable life.
Themes
Varya brings Luke into the primate lab and helps him into protective gear. Luke then asks why she studies primates. Varya explains that she had been working with yeast, but that primates are much more analogous to humans. She remembers when she agreed to take the job: despite her fears of contracting disease from the monkeys, she hoped this research would be her contribution to the world in place of having a partner or children.
Varya sees her work as her contribution to the world particularly because it will outlast her. It’s unlikely that her research will have any direct benefits for Gertie or for herself, and so she finds meaning in being able to leave a mark on the world through her research. Additionally, Benjamin continues to highlight Varya’s excessive fear of germs and disease, to the point where it might have prohibited her from being able to take an important research job.
Themes
Varya brings Luke into the monkeys’ enclosure, which simulates their natural environment. She knows the monkeys would rather be out in the wild, particularly because they only receive a few hours in the enclosure each week. She also thinks that the point of their research isn’t to test a new drug but to keep the monkeys alive, and that there can’t be any harm in that. Still, she knows that seeing the cages can give visitors the idea that the monkeys are unhappy.
The monkey’s captivity is a metaphor for the book’s implication that a longer life isn’t necessarily a better one. Even though the lab offers the monkeys protection relative to the danger of the wild, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are happier in cages.
Themes
Varya shows Luke the calorie-restricted group and the control group. Luke takes photos of each group as they scream at the sight of a person they don’t recognize. Varya explains that the control group is more prone to early onset diabetes and their risk of disease is three times higher. The calorie-restricted group also looks younger—the control group is balding more. It’s the midpoint of the study—too soon to assess lifespan—but the results are promising and Varya’s thesis is likely to be proven.
The research on the monkeys initially builds the argument that a longer life—one that is filled with less disease—is in fact a better one. This ties into Varya’s own life, as she tries to avoid illness and germs as much as possible. In this way, Varya’s experiment on longevity is her life’s work and the foundation of her legacy, but it also has a personal stake—she wants to affirm the value of her life and choices.
Themes
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When Luke leaves, Varya retrieves Frida from the isolation chamber. She had placed Frida there so that Luke wouldn’t see her. Varya remembers when Frida arrived—just a week after Varya herself. Her arrival had been delayed, and Varya had to personally transfer Frida from a van to her new cage. She was terrified when she opened the cage and the monkey clung to her; she thought she could get hepatitis. But she also found comfort in the animal clinging to her, and she rocked Frida throughout the night. She thought of Frida Kahlo’s Self-Portrait with Monkey and decided to name her Frida.
The fact that Varya is hiding Frida from Luke hints at the fact that not all of the restricted-calorie monkeys are necessarily healthier because they are a part of the experiment. Additionally, Benjamin continues to paint Frida as a surrogate child for Varya. She holds Frida and rocks her throughout her first night, implying that Varya’s top priority is her work and she pours all of her energy into that legacy.
Themes
