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
Simon nervously enters the Ballet Academy of San Francisco and finds a pair of slippers in the lost and found. The Israeli instructor, Gali, starts to lead the class, calling out various ballet positions. By the time the warm-up ends, Simon’s legs are burning and his toes cramp. When the class finishes, he runs to the bathroom and throws up in the toilet. Another dancer, Robert, comes into the bathroom and asks if Simon is okay. Simon nods and stumbles out into the street. He is filled with a desire to become like the other male dancers: “expert, majestic, invincibly strong.”
Even though Simon is hesitant about taking the ballet class, dancing at Academy quickly becomes a meaningful endeavor for Simon. The knowledge that he will die young leads Simon to make the opposite choice from someone like Varya or Daniel. Rather than wasting time in college or trying to set up a future career for himself, Simon wants to find meaning and fulfillment in doing something purely for his own benefit.
Themes
In June, the Castro hosts a Freedom Parade, and Simon is stunned to see 240,000 gay people celebrating together. Harvey Milk shouts on a bullhorn about ensuring rights for gay people, and Simon kisses several of Purp’s other dancers. He’s thrilled at being able to date and have sex with whomever he wants. Klara, meanwhile, starts working at a temp agency, and when she returns each day she’s moody until she’s had her first drink. There are also daily voice messages from Gertie, Daniel, and Varya, desperately asking Simon to come home. Varya says that if he doesn’t come back, she’ll have to put off graduate school. Klara tries to placate them while Simon simply avoids talking to them.
Simon’s choices continue to exacerbate the tension between himself and his family. He wants to be able to choose his own life and is afraid of wasting it, but he is also slowly becoming obsessed with his feelings of liberation. Meanwhile, Daniel and Varya, both of whom have considerably more time than Simon does, are trying to prepare for the future by completing school. Each sibling is trying to live their life based on the knowledge that the fortune teller gave them. Additionally, here Benjamin foreshadows Klara’s alcoholism and how she uses drinking as a coping mechanism for her unhappy and obsessive thoughts.
Themes
One day when Simon returns from Academy, Klara is practicing with her scarves. She says she’s quitting the temp agency and starting her own show. Simon says it’s ridiculous to think that she’ll make money that way. Klara is frustrated that Simon gets to do what he wants while she has to get a temp job. She says that he doesn’t think about anyone but himself. Simon reminds her that she was the one who asked him to come to San Francisco. He says if she’s feeling so bad, she could go back to New York. Klara seethes and washes dishes.
Klara emphasizes that magic does for her what dancing does for Simon; both disciplines allow them to find meaning in ways that they aren’t fully able to quantify. They feel purposeful when following their passion, and it expands the possibilities of what they can achieve in their lives. Simon’s words hurt Klara so deeply because he is questioning what she’ll be able to accomplish in her magic.
Themes
Simon knows he has been selfish, but he thinks that that’s why he goes to Academy—to maintain some discipline and pursue self-betterment. By the end of the summer, his body has stopped hurting and Academy feels like a home. Academy also has its own company, Corps, which Simon likes because the male dancers don’t act as “bland fairy-tale princes.” Instead, Gali’s choreography is modern and acrobatic.
This is another example of how dancing opens up new possibilities for Simon. Rather than reinforcing the role of men as “fairy-tale princes” who presumably partner with women, Corps enables Simon to envision a world in which he can partner with other men both in dance partnerships and romantic ones.
Themes
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Robert is in Corps. Simon hasn’t spoken to Robert since he saw Simon throwing up in the bathroom. Robert warms up alone, and the other men aren’t sure if he’s gay. Robert stands out not only because he is solitary but also because he is a Black ballet dancer. When Simon helps Gali with Corps rehearsals, he watches Robert dance. One day after rehearsal, he smokes with Robert and compliments his dancing. When Robert asks what he could do better, Simon says that Robert could be friendlier. Robert concedes the point and suddenly leans in and kisses Simon.
Robert and Simon’s relationship fulfills the vision of a dancing partner that he referenced in the previous passage. He is not a fairy-tale prince who has to support a beautiful princess like in most dances: instead, he is able to achieve an equal relationship with another man.
Themes
