55 pages • 1 hour read
Jojo MoyesSomeone Else's Shoes
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A 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
Shoes
Nisha’s custom Louboutin heels—and, to a lesser extent, Sam’s Primark pumps—are the most prominent symbols in Someone Else’s Shoes not only because they drive the plot but also because they influence how Nisha and Sam perceive themselves, as well as how the two women are perceived by others. For Sam, wearing the Louboutins allows her to “put on” the intangible attribute of confidence as well, a deliberate shift in demeanor that has measurable effects on both her professional life and her personal relationships. She mentions more than once that the shoes make her “feel like a different version of [her]self” (189, 319) and allow her to feel seen in a world that usually renders her invisible. Nisha’s feelings about the shoes are more complicated. At first, they symbolize how far she has come from her humble beginnings as Anita. Later, however, she comes to hate the shoes because they represent the control that Carl and his patriarchal standards had over her during their marriage.
Shoes in general also represent status throughout the novel. Nisha’s wearing of Sam’s shoes coincides with a major change in her financial and social status, and they begin to force her to understand the gravity of her predicament. Yet Nisha’s Louboutins also link women other than Sam and Nisha together, as with the shoes Sam is able to convince Miriam Price to make a deal with her company, and Sam’s hard work with this deal—paired with their bonding over footwear—is what later leads Miriam to consider hiring Sam and removing her from the terrible environment of her workplace.
The Louboutins are also a direct embodiment of the deceptive nature of appearances, an overarching theme of the novel. To Nisha, the shoes appear at first to be a generous gift from her husband, but she later learns that they were just another way for him to deflect the blame for his cruel actions. To further bring home the illusory nature of appearances, the ironic discovery that even the much-prized Louboutins are not really authentic Louboutins emphasizes just how much the majority of human behavior revolves around our assumptions as to what is or is not true in life. While perception does not necessarily create reality, the actions that people take based upon their perceptions alone can certainly have a dramatic effect on the course of life events, and this dynamic is central to the whirlwind plotline that dominates Someone Else’s Shoes.
The Camper Van
The camper van is a very direct symbol of Sam and Phil’s marriage, for although it was initially purchased with grand plans and intentions for its eventual use, it ultimately stands lost and abandoned in a forgotten corner of Sam’s home, similar to the ways in which her marriage with Phil stands lost and abandoned in the face of the many challenges and difficulties that separate them from understanding, appreciating, and supporting each other. The van’s constant state of disrepair also symbolizes the state of Phil’s own life, for just like he neglects the van, he also neglects even the day-to-day necessities of his own life, and thus both he and the van fall into a state of perpetual disrepair. This philosophical connection is further emphasized when Sam has to put in a great effort just to get Phil to take care of key maintenance issues such as renewing the van’s registration; this dynamic also serves as a reminder to Sam about how much her marriage has changed, highlighting the uncomfortable reality that at the moment, she is the only one investing time, energy, and effort into keeping some semblance of the relationship in working order.
In the second half of the novel, however, the symbolic significance of the van undergoes a significant shift, for rather than representing a neglected marriage, it comes to represent one that is being actively ignored. This new dynamic becomes evident when Phil consciously uses working on the van as an excuse to avoid working on his relationship with Sam, thus causing the state of their marriage to erode even further. Yet ironically, the time spent away from Sam, repairing the van, allows Phil to find the time to begin repairing himself: a much-needed internal process that must occur before he can even begin to work on his relationship. Thus, the significance of the van as a symbol shifts throughout the novel as the relationship between Sam and Phil shifts and twists. Perhaps most tellingly, both Sam and Phil have a tendency to go to the van when they need to hide something. Phil first goes back into the camper when he needs somewhere to hide the Louboutins so Sam won’t find them and wear them again. When their home is burglarized by Carl’s men, Sam also goes to the van, driven by the belief that it is safer than her home itself. Thus, even in times of distress, the van symbolizes the essence of their marriage—good and bad elements combined—and because both husband and wife repeatedly turn to this object to help them with their troubles in one way or another, it is clear that both of them are symbolically returning to the symbol of their crumbling marriage in order to feel safe, an indication that the relationship itself just might be salvageable.
Giving and Taking
The motifs of giving and taking occur frequently within Someone Else’s Shoes and often make the characters put things in perspective. Nisha’s marriage to Carl has led her to become fixated on the transactional nature of relationships, and she is used to only giving something to someone else, even her kindness, if she knows she will get something in return. Yet when faced with unexpected kindnesses such as Jasmine’s offer of house room and Aleks’s offers of companionship and good, wholesome meals, all with no expectation of recompense, her perspective on the purpose of relationships begins to shift, and she realizes that it is possible to give just for the purpose of showing kindness. Ironically, Nisha’s astonishment at these unexpected developments says far more about her than it does about the kindnesses offered, for only someone unaccustomed to being respected, valued, and cared for would find the experience of such kindness to be an inexplicable novelty. Her ongoing insistence upon looking for hidden agendas behind each new instance of generosity outlines the harshness of her upbringing and the loveless nature of her marriage, revealing the trauma that underlies many of her less likeable attributes and behaviors. Thus, the constant theme of giving allows Moyes to implicitly develop Nisha’s psychological underpinnings, giving readers a chance to parse apart her motives, fears, and imperfections from a much more sympathetic position than would otherwise have been possible.
Unlike Nisha, Sam gives far too much of her time and labor to others toward the beginning of the novel, and in fact, people even go so far as to take things from her: her time, her effort, her well-being, and ultimately her own sense of psychological safety in the world around her. While both women must learn to let others help them in order to grow, Sam must also learn to set and defend her own boundaries, refuse giving too much of herself to those who do not appreciate her, and fight for what she wants from life. This primary shift in the way she approaches the world ultimately allows her to take a proactive role in setting new goals and creating good things for herself and her family, rather than simply crouching in a defensive position that allows her to do no more than maintain a shaky truce with the undesirable elements of her environment.
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By Jojo Moyes
