Chapter 43: Agenda – Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens after midnight, when V asks Greta to join him in the living room for a conversation. He sits in a cane chair while she takes the couch, and the city lights from the bars and restaurants below reflect on the window. V is dressed entirely in black.

V begins by apologizing for not keeping Greta informed about his life recently. He acknowledges that people often give him too much leeway simply because they're relieved he's still alive. Greta accepts the apology but notes he hadn't told her anything.

V then reveals that Xabi will be visiting next month for two weeks, attending a festival in Melbourne. When Greta assumes he's simply asking permission for his boyfriend to stay at the flat, V corrects her: he plans to propose marriage to Xabi.

Greta is stunned and reminds V of his earlier, strongly held position that marriage is inherently queerphobic and that gay people who marry are buying into the straight agenda and a proscriptive society. V confirms he still believes all of that, but explains he needs to buy into it a bit for bureaucratic reasons. He wants to form a family with Xabi and Xabi's dependant—Nes, Xabi's adopted child—but none of them are currently citizens of the same country. V wants to adopt Nes as well so they can all live together.

Greta asks to see a picture of Nes. V initially scrolls through his phone privately, worried Greta might see screenshots of other people's awkward online interactions. Greta mentions having once seen V on his bed with Slava in a pose reminiscent of a Calvin Klein campaign, which V says he'll need to update Slava about. V hands over the phone.

Greta looks at a photo and asks why V appears to be throwing up. V clarifies he's spitting out mandarin-flavoured chips while a child laughs at him. Greta studies the image and makes a key observation: to her, it's a photo of her brother throwing up and a stranger's child laughing; to Nes, it's a photo of him with his dad. V responds that it depends on what Xabi says, and Greta insists Xabi will say yes, noting that V always puts Xabi's calls on speaker. V explains he doesn't like holding the phone because it makes his face oily.

Greta looks through the rest of the photos and finds them all poorly framed, with bad lighting and subjects about to fall over—qualities she recognizes as characteristic of family photos.

Key Events

V apologizes to Greta for keeping her out of the loop about his life
V reveals Xabi will visit for two weeks next month for a Melbourne festival
V announces his plan to propose marriage to Xabi
Greta recalls V's earlier critique of marriage as queerphobic and conformist
V explains the proposal is a bureaucratic necessity: he wants to form a family with Xabi and Nes, and adopt Nes so they can live together in the same country
Greta views photos of Nes on V's phone, including one where V appears to be vomiting but is actually spitting out mandarin-flavoured chips
Greta reflects on how the same photo means different things to different viewers
Greta notes the photos are poorly framed and low quality, like family photos

Character Development

This chapter deepens V's character considerably. His earlier ideological stance against marriage is revealed to be more nuanced than a simple rejection: he still holds those beliefs but is willing to compromise them for practical, family-oriented reasons. His desire to adopt Nes and form a legal family with Xabi shows a commitment that transcends his theoretical objections to marriage as an institution. The detail that people give him leeway because they're glad he's not dead hints at a history the reader may know more about from earlier chapters.

Greta's role here is primarily as observer and interpreter. Her reading of the photograph—seeing her brother throwing up where Nes sees his dad—demonstrates her capacity for empathy and her understanding that meaning is constructed by the viewer. Her insistence that Xabi will say yes, based on how V speaks to him on speakerphone, shows her attentiveness to her brother's relationships.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Marriage as bureaucratic necessity. V's proposal is framed not as a romantic gesture but as a legal requirement. He explicitly maintains his critique of marriage while acknowledging he must buy into it to form a family across citizenship boundaries. This tension between ideology and pragmatism is central to the chapter.

Citizenship and family formation. The chapter highlights how legal structures shape family life. V, Xabi, and Nes are citizens of different countries, and marriage and adoption are the mechanisms available to unite them. The bureaucratic language V uses—dependant, legal nonsense—underscores how impersonal the system is.

Subjective meaning of photographs. The mandarin-chip photo is the chapter's central image. Greta and Nes see entirely different things in the same image. This motif extends to the observation that all the photos are technically bad—poorly framed, badly lit—yet they function as family photos precisely because of their imperfection.

Commitment as symbolic gesture. V initially describes the proposal as a symbolic gesture of commitment, which Greta challenges given his stated views. The chapter complicates this: the gesture is symbolic, but it's also deeply practical, and the two aren't mutually exclusive.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is a turning point for V's storyline. It reveals his plans for the future—marriage to Xabi, adoption of Nes—and reframes his character from someone defined by ideological purity to someone willing to navigate imperfect systems for the sake of family. It also deepens the novel's exploration of how queer families are formed and the legal obstacles they face. Greta's observation about the photograph crystallizes a central theme: family is defined by the people in it and the meaning they assign to shared moments, not by technical quality or conventional framing.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does V decide to propose marriage to Xabi despite his stated opposition to marriage?

V still believes marriage is queerphobic and conformist, but he needs to marry for bureaucratic reasons. He wants to form a family with Xabi and Nes, and since none of them are citizens of the same country, marriage and adoption are the legal mechanisms that would allow them to live together. He describes this as buying into the system a bit out of necessity.

2. What does the mandarin-flavoured chip photograph reveal about the theme of subjective meaning?

The same photo shows Greta her brother appearing to throw up while a child laughs, but to Nes it's a picture of him with his dad. This demonstrates that photographs don't have fixed meanings—their significance depends on the viewer's relationship to the subjects. The photo is also technically poor, yet it functions as a meaningful family image, suggesting that family photos derive their value from the relationships they represent rather than their quality.

3. How does Greta's observation about the photo's quality connect to the novel's broader treatment of family?

Greta notes that all of V's photos are poorly framed, with bad lighting and subjects about to fall over—like all of their family photos. This connects the imperfection of the photos to the imperfection of family itself. The novel suggests that families aren't polished or ideal; they're messy, awkward, and full of moments that only make sense to the people inside them.