Chapter 109: On Love — Summary, Themes, 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
Chapter 109, “On Love,” is a brief lyric meditation in which Hekate reflects on the romantic stories shared by the women and young maids around her. As she listens to tales of stolen kisses and moonlit walks, she finds herself thinking of a particular boy—one with kind, tired eyes. The memory of him surfaces not because of the romance in the stories themselves, but because of how he once perceived her in ways no one else had.
She recalls that he noticed an ache in her—a deep, unspoken pain—and responded not with words of comfort but with action. He taught her how to earn the trust of the largest beasts, a skill that suggests he understood her need for agency and connection with the wild. He also saw a loneliness in her that spoke to him even when she could not articulate it herself. This recognition, unspoken and mutual, is what lingers in her memory.
The chapter closes with Hekate wondering whether she will ever see him again and, more tellingly, why she wants to. As she continues to listen to more love stories, the image of his face and the memory of his kindness grow brighter and more beautiful in her mind, suggesting that absence and storytelling are shaping her feelings as much as the original encounter did.
Key Events
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Hekate listens as women of all ages share romantic tales of stolen kisses and moonlit walks.
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These stories trigger a recurring memory of a boy with kind, tired eyes.
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She recalls how he perceived an ache in her and responded by teaching her to gain the trust of the largest beasts.
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She remembers that he saw a loneliness in her that she could not express in words.
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She wonders whether she will ever see him again and questions the source of her desire to do so.
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As more love stories accumulate, the memory of his face and kindness becomes increasingly bright and idealized.
Character Development
Hekate. This chapter reveals a side of Hekate rarely seen in the book’s more mythic or magical moments. She is shown as someone who listens, reflects, and carries private longings. Her uncertainty—wondering if she will see the boy again and why she wants to—marks her as emotionally vulnerable in a way that contrasts with her usual power and authority. The fact that she blushes at the stories told by others suggests a certain innocence or inexperience with romantic love, even as she is clearly drawn to the idea of it.
The boy. Though he never appears directly in the chapter, the boy is built entirely through Hekate’s memory. He is characterized by kindness and perceptiveness—someone who notices what others miss. His decision to teach her to trust beasts rather than to offer simple comfort implies a practical, grounded wisdom. He understood her loneliness without needing her to explain it, which suggests a deep attunement to her inner life.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Love and longing. The chapter is fundamentally about how romantic feeling can be awakened and shaped by the stories we hear. Hekate’s longing is not for a present lover but for a remembered one, and the stories of others act as a catalyst for her own buried emotions.
Memory and idealization. The closing lines make clear that the more Hekate hears love stories, the more beautiful his face and kindness become in her memory. This suggests that memory is not a fixed record but a living, evolving thing—one that can be polished and brightened by repetition and longing.
Loneliness and being seen. The boy’s most significant act was seeing a loneliness in Hekate that she could not voice. This motif of being truly seen—recognized without explanation—is central to the chapter’s emotional weight.
Kindness as a virtue. What Hekate remembers most about the boy is not his appearance or charm but his kindness. The chapter elevates kindness as the quality that makes someone worthy of love and memory.
Trust with beasts. The boy’s gift to Hekate—teaching her to gain the trust of the largest beasts—functions as a symbol of the deeper trust he placed in her and the trust he helped her build in herself.
Absence and hope of reunion. Hekate’s wondering whether she will see him again carries both uncertainty and hope, making absence itself a motivating force in the chapter.
Why This Chapter Matters
“On Love” is a pivotal chapter for understanding Hekate as a character with an inner emotional life. It connects her to a formative relationship—the boy who taught her to trust beasts—which resonates with her broader mythological associations with animals, the wild, and the liminal spaces between worlds. The chapter also establishes a pattern of longing and idealization that may inform her later choices and relationships. By showing her capacity for vulnerability and romantic feeling, the chapter deepens the reader’s sense of her as a figure who is not only powerful but also deeply human.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does the speaker’s memory of the boy become brighter and more lovely the more love stories she hears?
The love stories told by the women and maids around her provide a framework for understanding her own feelings. Each tale of stolen kisses and moonlit walks gives her a new lens through which to view her memory of the boy, and with each retelling, her recollection becomes more polished and idealized. The repetition of romantic narratives amplifies her longing and makes the absent boy more vivid in her mind.
2. What does the boy’s act of teaching her to gain the trust of the largest beasts reveal about how he understands her?
His choice to teach her a practical skill rather than offer verbal comfort suggests he understood that her ache was not something words could heal. By showing her how to earn the trust of powerful creatures, he gave her agency and a sense of mastery over the wild—something that would have been deeply meaningful to Hekate. It reveals that he saw her not as someone to be pitied but as someone capable of strength and connection.
3. How does this chapter complicate the reader’s understanding of Hekate as a character?
Throughout the book, Hekate is often associated with power, magic, and the darker aspects of the witch archetype. This chapter complicates that image by showing her as someone who blushes at romantic stories, carries private longings, and questions her own feelings. It reveals a vulnerability and emotional depth that makes her more relatable and more complex, suggesting that even the most powerful figures are shaped by love, memory, and the ache of absence.