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2 of Spades
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in I Am the Messenger, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Circumstance vs. Choice
Heroism, Sainthood, and Ordinariness
Purpose, Success, and Meaning
Hope, Caring, and Beauty
Summary
Analysis
Marv forces Ed to come to the team’s victory party because the players have voted Ed the best player for defeating Mimi. On the way to the party, Ed stops by Audrey’s house, but she is out, most likely with her boyfriend. Ed arrives at the party and realizes he does not truly know any of the people there. He waits on the front porch until Marv comes and sits with him. Marv congratulates Ed again on injuring Mimi, but Ed still feels pity for the other player. Ed chooses to think about the card in his pocket and the future it promises. Marv asks Ed what he’s smiling about. Ed says he has to leave and for the first time, Marv lets him go without any hassle.
Ed’s lack of connection at the team party shows how traditional communities, such as a sports team, can fail to provide support if the members are not genuinely caring people (as shown by the team’s continued degradation of Mimi). In contrast, Ed’s focus on the mission of the card shows how helping others can help one remain happy and compassionate in the face of other’s hostility and selfishness.
Themes
Ed walks home and takes out the card to examine it. He had expected the card’s suit to be hearts, because spades are the more dangerous-looking suit. This card has three new names written on it: “Graham Greene, Morris West, Sylvia Plath.” The names sound familiar to Ed, but he cannot find them listed in the local phonebook. Ed sits on his living room couch and contemplates the card. He drifts off to sleep.
Ed’s expectations about the suit of the card either express how random chance can affect one’s fate (like the suit of a drawn card can affect a game) or how one can project their own opinions onto random happenings; Ed wants to believe that fate is somehow involved in what’s happening, even though he has little evidence either way.
Themes
Dreaming, Ed finds himself still at the soccer game, chasing after the mysterious young woman and arguing with Jay for the card. In the next dream, Ed is in a classroom. There are books in front of him, but he cannot read the words. A teacher walks in and instructs Ed to read the words on the blackboard behind her, but Ed cannot. Suddenly, Ed looks up and sees the teacher hanging from a rope attached the ceiling, dead. Ed feels like he cannot breathe. The dead woman asks Ed if he can read the words now. Ed sees that the blackboard says, “Barren Woman.”
Ed’s inability to read the words represents the helplessness he often feels during his missions. This shows that even if one feels helpless or inadequate, they still must try to help others—and, given Ed’s many successes so far, the novel seems to argue that feeling inadequate is no real barrier to success.
Themes
Ed wakes up on his living room couch. He realizes the words in his dream, “Barren Woman,” are the title of a poem his high school English teacher liked. He remembers the poem was written by Sylvia Plath, the third name on the card. He deduces that the names on the card are famous authors and resolves to go to the library once it opens to further unravel the mystery.
The poem “Barren Woman” is about emptiness in life and failing to achieve one’s full potential. This allusion contributes to the theme of finding meaning in life after failing to succeed by traditional measures, as Ed is currently doing at this point in the plot.
Themes
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Before Ed can go to the library, Audrey stops by to hang out. Ed tells her about the new card. All the while, he watches her lips and wishes he could kiss her and touch her. Ed feels like he deserves Audrey’s love, because he has been suffering so much while helping others. But he knows Audrey will not return his affection, and he will receive no reward for his mission. He vows to stop looking for a reward because he hopes he has evolved past that need.
Ed’s thoughts on his desire for a reward show how if one helps others with the expectation of reward, they will be disappointed. This advocates for a selfless approach to acts of kindness, though Ed’s feelings show that shifting to this perspective is a difficult task.
Themes
Though Ed knows it’s foolish, he kisses Audrey. He feels her for second, but she pulls away. Ed tastes blood and realizes Audrey’s lips are bleeding. He feels awful, knowing he cannot even succeed in kissing her correctly. He apologizes to Audrey and they stand facing each other in uncomfortable silence. Ed knows Audrey will never love him back, but he also knows no one loves Audrey as much as he does. Ed apologizes again and Audrey accepts his apology. He remembers that Audrey doesn’t want to touch anybody she could ever truly love.
Ed’s painful and awkward encounter with Audrey suggests that if one approaches physical intimacy with the idea of deserving a reward or seeking a marker of success, rather than acting out of genuine connection with the other person, they will ultimately leave the interaction unsatisfied. Ed understands Audrey’s issues with love but refuses to consider her feelings before he acts, which demonstrates that he’s still somewhat immature at this point in the story.
Themes
Ed goes to the library, expecting he will look up the authors in catalog drawers with index cards. He approaches the librarian and asks him if he has any cards. The librarian responds by asking Ed what kind of cards, and then says Ed must not have been to the library in many years. Ed feels embarrassed, like the librarian views him as an uneducated fool. The librarian shows Ed how to look up the names on the computer.
The librarian’s belittling of Ed contributes to the novel’s general sense that people are hostile unless they make an effort to be caring. Ed’s lack of knowledge about the library also shows how a purposeless life can lead to becoming out of touch with the world at large.
Themes
Ed looks up each author and finds their books in the library. Excited, he picks up as many books as he can carry and convinces the librarian to let him check them all out. He stumbled back home under the weight of all those words. At home, he reads through the books, but cannot detect any clues as to where the card wants him to go next.
Ed’s inability to discover the secret to his missions shows that the skills one values (like Ed values reading) might not always lead to success. Instead, one may have to depend on more unexpected means to aid them in their mission to help others.
Themes
Ed falls asleep reading but when he wakes up, he discovers a note slipped under the front door. This causes Ed to shiver, because he remembers this means that the person sending the cards is following him at all times. The note tells Ed he is on the right path, but the answer is simpler than he is expecting. Ed takes the Doorman for a walk so that he can think about what this simple solution might be. As he looks at the street signs, Ed realizes that the titles of the authors’ books must correspond with street names in town.
The message on the note suggests that it’s normal to over-think the act of helping others, to the point where one lets it hinder the good they can do for others. This note and Ed’s discovery of the street signs suggests that part of doing good is observing the outside world instead of getting caught up in constant contemplation.
Themes
Ed crosschecks the book titles with his town directory and finds three streets that match books by the three authors. But he still doesn’t know which house numbers he is supposed to go to. Since this is the Ace of Spades, Ed reasons, he must dig for the answer. Ed picks up the books whose titles match the street names and reads through the first one until he finds a note addressed to him on the 114th page. He decides this is the house number he is looking for. Feeling elated at how simple and painless this process is, he finds the other two house numbers in their respective books.
Ed’s opinion that this process was easy, when really it involved several fairly complicated steps, shows how shifting one’s perspective and looking for the positive aspects of a situation can lead one to feel that even challenging tasks are manageable. One may also feel more assured of their actions, as Ed does here.
Themes
