39 pages • 1 hour read
Casey McQuistonRed, White, and Royal Blue
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Photographs
From very early in the story, we are aware that Alex is obsessed with Henry. That obsession is demonstrated by a fixation on various photos of the prince. Alex tells no one that he’s kept a photo of Henry playing cricket. Initially, he can’t explain what it is that attracts him, but he keeps the picture anyway. Photos of Henry later have the opposite effect. They repel Alex. When he contemplates the prince looking picture-perfect, like a plastic doll, he grows angry.
For his part, Henry has taken a mental snapshot of Alex during their first meeting at the Olympics. Years later, he describes in precise detail every aspect of Alex’s apparel and demeanor because it was the moment Henry fell in love. As their relationship progresses, the two men send phone snapshots to one another. As Henry allows Alex greater access to his psyche, he also allows himself to be photographed sleepy and rumpled. This is an indication that he’s grown more relaxed with the relationship and with himself. When the two participate in a formal courtship photoshoot, it is the candid photo of Henry and Alex having a laugh on a park bench that captures the essence of their relationship.
Private Emails and Texts
Because Alex and Henry are separated by several thousand miles, their relationship can’t unfold as a normal romance might. Alex takes the initiative when he types his personal contact info into Henry’s phone just before returning to the States so that they can stay in touch. The initial messages between them are tentative and slightly wary. The novel prints their conversations verbatim, allowing the texts and emails to demonstrate the emotional intimacy and trust that grow between them without editorial comment.
General observations about the political climate and family relations in each of their countries soon give way to passionate declarations of love and quotations from the correspondence of historic figures also afflicted with the misery of long-distance romances. The correspondence is funny and touching but deeply personal. This fact makes the exposure of Alex and Henry’s private thoughts even more horrific when the texts and email are put on public display.
Ironically, the exposure of two men’s hearts has the opposite of its intended effect. Just as their unvarnished words endear them to the reader, their love affair in print endears them to both the American and British public. We are allowed a glimpse of Alex and Henry in their own words, without any editing or censoring or attempts to make them seem less flawed than they are. Their basic humanity carries a common appeal and allows the public to identify with their cause.
Alex’s Neck Chain
Alex wears a key to his childhood house in West Austin, Texas suspended from a chain around his neck. Psychologically, the key grounds Alex and reminds him where home is—because the White House is nobody’s real home; it belongs to the current administration for only a short time. The pendant around Alex’s neck is a constant reminder to keep his perspective. This becomes absolutely essential once Alex becomes enmeshed in his mother’s reelection campaign and the scandal associated with his own behavior. Aside from its obvious association with a physical home, the key also functions as a reminder that Alex needs to stay grounded in his own personal values. When he recognizes his bisexuality, he needs to stay honest with himself and not try to conceal his impulses to please the public.
Henry later gives him a signet ring that the prince always wears. Alex must keep the ring hidden, less for his own sake than for Henry’s. He places it on the neck chain with his key, so that is remains close to his heart. As Alex faces the ordeal of his mother’s reelection campaign and the press generated by his secret affair, he keeps these two objects in constant contact with his skin. They remind him what he values most. By the end of the story, he uses the key to enter his childhood home with Henry. The word he uses to describe the moment is “victorious” (417).
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