The Symbol of Sunrises in Ugly Love
Introduction
In Colleen Hoover’s Ugly Love, the sunrise operates as a quiet but powerful symbol that mirrors Miles Archer’s internal transformation. More than a simple natural event, the sunrise first appears as a private ritual of survival and eventually becomes a shared declaration of hope and a fresh start. By tracking where and how sunrises recur in the novel, readers can trace Miles’s slow, painful journey from grief to healing, and understand how the symbol ties together themes of grief and trauma, emotional walls, and healing and forgiveness.
Literal Meaning and Recurrence
A sunrise is the daily rising of the sun above the horizon, marking the start of a new day. In Ugly Love, sunrises appear in two key scenes, both involving Miles and his perspective on flying.
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Chapter Eleven (Tate’s perspective): During a road trip with Corbin and Miles, Tate asks what it is like to watch the sunrise from a plane. Corbin says he never looks, but Miles quietly admits, “I look … Every time I’m up there, I watch it.” He does not elaborate, and his voice sounds distant, suggesting the sunrise is a private, even sacred moment for him.
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Chapter Thirty-Nine (Miles’s perspective): Months after their reconciliation, Miles wakes Tate before dawn and flies her and Cap into the sky to watch the sunrise. He calls it “a promise” fulfilled. The scene explicitly shows him sharing something he once kept for himself, marking his willingness to let Tate into his inner world.
The sunrise also echoes in Miles’s past. Though not described as a sunrise, the chapter where Miles tells Rachel on the beach that “God gives us the ugliness so we don’t take the beautiful things in life for granted” (Chapter Sixteen) sets up the love‑and‑pain philosophy that sunrises later come to symbolize for him.
Shifting Meaning
For Miles, the meaning of the sunrise evolves across three phases:
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Pre‑trauma optimism: Before losing his son Clayton, Miles associates beauty (including sunrises) with his love for Rachel. He believes the “beautiful parts” of love lift people above the ugly parts.
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Post‑trauma isolation: After Clayton’s death and Rachel’s departure, the sunrise becomes a solitary ritual. Miles watches it every time he flies, but he never explains what it means to him. The sunrise in this period is a bittersweet reminder of what he has lost—a moment of beauty he can only experience alone, wrapped in pain.
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Healing and new beginning: When Miles shares the sunrise with Tate at the end of the novel, the symbol regains its original promise. He is no longer watching it alone; he is inviting someone else into the most hopeful part of his day. The scene also includes Cap, the elevator attendant who serves as a quiet mentor. The fact that Cap is given his first airplane ride underscores that this sunrise is a new start for all three characters.
The shift from private to shared sunrise directly parallels Miles’s emotional arc: from building walls to letting those walls fall, from fearing love to embracing it. As Miles says in Chapter Thirty‑Nine, watching Tate sleep every morning is what “starts my day off right”—a domestic version of the sunrise that signals his transformation.
Character Connections
Miles Archer
The sunrise is most intimately connected to Miles. He uses flying as an escape, and the sunrise is the one constant he allows himself to feel. His decision to share it with Tate is the ultimate symbol of trust and vulnerability.
Tate Collins
Tate is the recipient of the shared sunrise. In Chapter Eleven, she is curious about the experience, and her question reveals her desire to understand Miles’s inner world. When Miles finally shows her the sunrise, he gives her access to the part of himself he has guarded for six years.
Cap Samuel
Cap, the elderly elevator attendant, accompanies them on the sunrise flight. Cap has known Miles his whole life and has acted as a confidant. His inclusion in the sunrise symbolizes the bridging of Miles’s past and present. Cap’s first plane ride also represents the old man’s own new beginning.
Rachel
Rachel is implicitly present in the symbol’s meaning. The sunrise was once part of Miles’s love for her; after losing both Rachel and their son, he reclaims the sunrise for himself and then for Tate.
Theme Connections
The sunrise symbol ties directly into several major themes:
| Theme | Connection |
|---|---|
| Grief and Trauma | The sunrise becomes a private ritual during Miles’s years of grief—a way to still experience beauty while remaining emotionally closed off. |
| Emotional Walls and Vulnerability | Watching the sunrise alone reinforces Miles’s walls; sharing it with Tate marks the moment he lets those walls come down. |
| Healing and Forgiveness | The sunrise flight is part of Miles’s apology to Tate and his commitment to healing. He later refers to Tate as the one who “loved me back to life,” a phrase that echoes the dawn. |
| Forbidden Love and Secrecy | In the past, Miles’s love for Rachel was hidden. The sunrise he now shares with Tate is open and honest—no secrecy, no rules. |
| Parenthood and Sacrifice | In the epilogue, Miles overcomes his fear of fatherhood when his daughter Sam is born, calling her the “most beautiful sunrise.” This extends the symbol to his new family. |
Study Questions and Answers
These four questions are designed to help readers analyze the sunrise symbol in Ugly Love. Each answer draws directly from the chapter evidence provided above.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| 1. What does the sunrise literally represent in the novel, and at what two key moments does it appear? | The sunrise represents the beginning of a new day. It appears when Miles tells Tate he watches it every time he flies (Chapter Eleven) and when he flies her and Cap into the sky to see the sunrise (Chapter Thirty‑Nine). |
| 2. How does Miles’s relationship with the sunrise change from his past with Rachel to his present with Tate? | In his past, the sunrise was tied to his belief that beauty makes the ugly parts of life worth enduring. After his trauma, he watches it alone as a way to hold on to a sliver of beauty without risking love. By the end, he shares the sunrise with Tate, transforming it from a solitary comfort into a shared promise of a fresh start. |
| 3. Why does Miles include Cap in the sunrise flight, and what does that reveal about his growth? | Cap has been a trusted confidant throughout Miles’s relationship with Tate. Including Cap shows that Miles is no longer isolating himself; he is weaving his past support system into his new life. It also demonstrates his desire to give Cap an experience he never had, mirroring the generosity he now feels capable of offering. |
| 4. How does the sunrise contrast with the “ugly love” that Miles describes in Chapter Thirty‑Four? | In Chapter Thirty‑Four, Miles defines “ugly love” as the heavy, drowning side of love that consumes everything. The sunrise represents the opposite: lightness, hope, and the ability to see beauty again. By the epilogue, Miles concludes that the beautiful moments—symbolized by sunrises—make the ugly love worth it. |
Conclusion
The sunrise motif in Ugly Love is a deceptively simple symbol that carries the novel’s emotional weight. It moves from a private, nearly sacred ritual of a grieving man to a public, shared celebration of healing and new beginnings. For Miles Archer, the sunrise is the visual proof that after the ugliest kind of love, a new day can still break. By giving that sunrise to Tate, he gives her his heart—and the promise that he will no longer watch the dawn alone.
For deeper exploration, visit our pages on the character of Miles Archer, the theme of healing and forgiveness, and the novel’s full guide.