Saint's Wedding and a Farewell in the Rain
Spoiler Notice: This analysis discusses explicit events from Chapter 113, including the wedding, private conversations, and choices that shape the remainder of the narrative. Read on only after you have finished the chapter.
Summary
Half the town gathers for Saint’s wedding. She walks down the aisle to Jimmy in his two-button suit and sage tie, speaking vows while trying to smile. As the ceremony concludes, she glances to the back of the nave and spots Patch sitting alone. Their eyes meet briefly before he vanishes. After the applause, Saint slips away from Jimmy and finds Patch outside in the rain. He reveals Sammy told him about the wedding. They talk awkwardly; Saint lies that Jimmy treats her well, hiding her fears about giving up her career and her piano. They embrace, and she whispers that she misses him. He says nothing will change much of anything. He wipes her tears, and she returns to the reception. During the first dance, Jimmy asks why she chose the song. She closes her eyes and whispers the lyrics to “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,” a private lament about dreams that cannot grow in certain soil.
Key Events
- Half the town attends Saint’s wedding to Jimmy.
- Saint spots Patch seated alone at the back of the nave during the ceremony; he leaves before she can speak to him.
- Saint slips away from Jimmy after the ceremony and finds Patch in the rain.
- Patch reveals Sammy told him about the wedding.
- Saint withholds her true feelings about Jimmy and her fears for her future, instead telling Patch she is treated well.
- Saint and Patch share a final, long embrace. He wipes her tears, and they part with an unspoken finality.
- At the reception, Saint and Jimmy dance to Elton John’s “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,” a song Saint chose secretly as a coded goodbye.
Character Development
Saint: This chapter crystallizes Saint’s internal fracture. Publicly, she performs the role of a happy bride. Privately, she is terrified. She has already conceded her piano, her identity as a cop, and her autonomy to Jimmy’s vision of a traditional wife and mother. Her decision to lie to Patch—that Jimmy treats her well—is a profound act of self-protection that also serves as a final gift to Patch, freeing him from the burden of fighting for her. She buries her true self so deeply that even her wedding song becomes a secret, coded message of longing for a different life.
Patch: Patch’s presence at the back of the church is an act of witness, not disruption. He comes to see the moment and then leave, understanding his place. His gentle acceptance of Saint’s lie and his quiet observation that nothing they could say will change anything shows a weary, mature fatalism. He is no longer the boy who might fight; he is a man who carries his loss silently, offering only the comfort of a final embrace in the rain.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
The Wedding as a Funeral for the Self: The ceremony is depicted not as a celebration but as a series of forced performances. Saint must “do her best to smile” and make promises from a “limited vantage point.” This frames the marriage not as a beginning but as an entombment of Saint’s identity as a cop, a musician, and an independent woman.
The Rain: The rain during Saint and Patch’s final conversation serves as a cleansing and equalizing force. It mats Patch’s hair and washes over them as they stand “familiar and foreign.” It is a visual manifestation of the sorrow and the unspoken, a natural element that blurs the boundaries of their separate lives one last time.
“Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters”: The song choice is the chapter’s central motif. Saint tells Jimmy she just likes it, but the lyrics she whispers are the chapter’s thesis: a lament that beautiful, wild things (“rose trees”) cannot flourish in a certain environment. Saint is the rose tree, and the life she has chosen with Jimmy in the town is the inhospitable New York City of the song. The song is her private, silent scream.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter functions as the emotional turning point for Saint’s entire arc. It is the final, quiet severance of the deep, unarticulated bond between her and Patch. Their exchange is not a heated confrontation but a mutual acknowledgment of paths permanently diverged. More crucially, it lays bare the cost of Saint’s choice. We see not just a romantic loss but the systemic sacrifice of a woman’s vocation, her passions, and her truth to fit a prescribed role. The chapter reframes the marriage from a plot point into a slow-burning tragedy for Saint’s character, setting up every subsequent conflict she will face between the life she has and the person she is.
Study Questions and Answers
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Why does Saint lie to Patch when he asks if Jimmy treats her well? Saint lies because telling the truth would be an act of cruelty with no purpose. Admitting her fears, Jimmy’s casual dismissals, and her impending loss of self would only cause Patch pain and potentially provoke a conflict that cannot change her decision. The lie is a final act of love and protection, a way to let him walk away without the weight of her unhappiness.
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What is the significance of Saint choosing “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” for the first dance, and why does she hide the reason from Jimmy? The song is a direct, private communication of her true feelings. The lyrics about rose trees never growing in New York City mirror her belief that her own dreams and true self cannot flourish in the life Jimmy represents. She hides the reason because Jimmy would not understand; the song is not for him. It is Saint’s final, secret farewell to her own hopes, sung only to herself and, symbolically, to Patch.
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How does Patch’s behavior during and after the ceremony reflect his character growth? Patch demonstrates profound restraint and maturity. He does not disrupt the ceremony or confront Saint. He witnesses the moment he loses her forever from the shadows and then leaves quietly. When she finds him, he does not plead or argue. He accepts her words, offers comfort, and states the painful truth that nothing they can say will change things. He has evolved from a figure of chaos to one of quiet, tragic acceptance.