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Book 3, Part 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Trust, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
U.S. Foundational Myths
Gender and Subjugation
Wealth
Power and Morality
Self-Interest vs. the Common Good
Summary
Analysis
In the mid-1980s, Ida continues to go through the boxes of Mildred’s papers. Ida also recalls the years of her youth after Andrew died. She went to college, got a cheaper apartment, found a job working in advertising, published her first story, wrote her first piece of reporting, worked at Mademoiselle, and then published her first book. She remained close to her father, who always reminded her of Mr. Brevoort, Helen’s father. In the last box, Ida finds a notebook with the word “Futures” written on the front cover. It’s a diary that Mildred kept. Ida takes the diary and puts it in her bag. She’s surprised at her own arrogance—she’s acting as if the diary somehow belongs to her. But she’s also excited to finally hear Mildred in her own voice.
In investing, “futures” are contracts through which people agree to buy and sell a given commodity on a future date for a price agreed upon at the time of the contract. The fact that Mildred’s diary has “Futures” written on the cover suggests that she intended someone to find it in the future. It also suggests that the diary may represent a metaphorical contract. In this case, that metaphorical contract could be that Mildred intended the diary to be found in a future time that would be more receptive to whatever truth the diary contains.
Themes
