Elliott’s Crown Symbol Analysis

The crown embroidered on Elliott’s underwear, which comes from his “old family title,” is a symbol of the ways that religion can be exploited for social status rather than as a way to find genuine and lasting meaning and insight. Late in the novel, Somerset goes with Elliott to visit a tailor. There, Somerset sees underwear that Elliott has had special-ordered. That underwear is embroidered with Elliott’s initials over a crown. Elliott then explains to Somerset that His Holiness himself has seen fit to reinstate Elliott’s old family title, which is based on a lineage that goes back to Count de Lauria. Somerset thinks that the title, along with Elliott’s claims to aristocratic lineage, are made-up, and the novel implies that Elliott has essentially bribed his way into that title through sizeable donations to the Catholic Church. When Elliott is on his deathbed and the bishop himself comes to read Elliott his last rites, Elliott tells Somerset that he has received a letter of introduction into heaven that will ensure he’s a member of the highest social classes there just as he has been on earth. For Elliott, even the spiritual realm of the afterlife is defined by hierarchy and social status. With that in mind, the embroidered crown on Elliott’s underwear, and the fictitious title it represents, serve as a symbol for the way that religious institutions can become purveyors of hierarchy and status instead of avenues through which one can pursue profound insight and meaning. In Elliott’s case, the church becomes another vehicle that he hopes will help him achieve a higher status, both on earth and in the afterlife. Elliott’s belief lies in stark contrast to the ways that Larry uses religion and spirituality to find the kind of genuine insight and meaning that the novel consistently holds up as the highest good when compared to superficial concerns like status and wealth.