65 pages • 2 hours read
Katee RobertNeon Gods
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021A 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
Food and Meals
Robert uses food and meals to showcase Hades’s caring personality, as well as the extent and nature of his relationship with others. While he finds Hermes and Dionysus exasperating, Hades is clearly accepting of Hermes taking advantage of his hospitality, reflecting that when it comes to both her and Dionysus, “I gave up fighting their presence” (55). He passes her a coffee mug with enough room for her ice cream, making casual conversation about Persephone and last night’s party.
Even before he is truly attached to her, Hades is concerned with Persephone not eating enough. His deeper emotional involvement is reflected in the food they share together, and his commentary on her choices. When she tells him “I don’t eat when I’m stressed,” he tells her “that changes now” (157), and ushers in a massive feast which he watches her consume. Hades realizes Persephone has grown comfortable in his home when he finds her in the kitchen, making breakfast with his cook, who never lets him help with meals. Later in the text, Hades takes Persephone to the night market and they eat gyros, a favorite meal of his that she immediately appreciates. Caught up in the moment, Hades imagines, “this might be a first date or a third or ten years down the road” (231), only to remind himself that Persephone must leave Olympus when winter ends. Food thus comes to reflect their mutual emotional attachment and reinforce the theme of Forbidden Love and Redemption.
The Relationship Between a Space and Its Occupants
The emotional impact of built environments becomes a key aspect of how Persephone evaluates both the upper city she knows and the lower city she flees to. The conclusions she draws reinforce the text’s theme of Power and Loyalty as well as Tensions Between Public Personas and the Authentic Self. At her engagement party, Persephone reflects that Zeus’s throne is “as dangerous and electric as its occupant, and he wants to make sure no one ever forgets it” (6). Persephone recognizes that Hades has his own version in the room he uses for public sex parties, but also notices that the choice is a strategy, not a reflection of personal taste. She reflects, “the bits of the house I’ve seen so far feel cozy and lived in. This is as cold as Zeus’s tower” (98). Thus, the power struggle with Zeus helps force Hades into a persona that is not his entire self, for the sake of strategic advantage.
Persephone is similarly drawn to the architecture of the lower city, which reflects its age and traditions because in her world, “history is less important to the people in power than presenting a polished image” (150). She comes to develop a similar appreciation for the citizens, and the loyalty and fondness they show for Hades. At every business they visit, she notes that Hades is familiar with the owner and their history, and clearly a welcome presence. Part of her calculus in returning to Zeus, however briefly, is to support the community she has found there. In presenting her with an alternative view of power, Hades gives Persephone more confidence in her own future. At the end of the novel, she tells him that she didn’t feel like any part of Olympus would ever feel “like home,” assuring him that she is happy not merely with him, but with the entire world he inhabits and directs.
Light, Darkness, and Shadows
Throughout both character’s inner monologue, the interplay of light and shadow, and sunshine as a metaphor for persona and emotion, help Robert demonstrate the growing emotional bond between the characters and the nature of political power. During their first kink scene, Hades tells Persephone, “[T[hey see me taking one of their own and dragging her into the dark with me” (176). Persephone welcomes his words, urging the scene to continue, establishing that she is an enthusiastic participant. When he finds Persephone in the kitchen, charming his cook, Hades finds himself imagining a future for them for the first time. He imagines her as a “dark queen to my king of the lower city” but also says, “I’d fight to give her every bit of sunshine and happiness I could find. It’s not in the cards for us” (268). Hades casts Persephone as his opposite, as what she needs and deserves as beyond his power to provide. He imagines the two of them as equal partners, but also sees this future as only a dream.
Changes in Persephone’s appearance help assure the reader that their love story will resolve happily. For her return to the upper city, Persephone wears a dark dress, “like stylized armor,” and Hades assures her “they won’t know what hit them” (313). Her change in style for this confrontation asserts her real loyalties and her emotional attachment to Hades. She is going into battle, not arriving as a sacrifice, and Hades assures her the effect is obvious. As much as Hades doubts their future together at this stage in the narrative, he is ultimately reassured by Persephone’s clothing, as “if Persephone didn’t care about me, she wouldn’t be dressed as my dark queen when she left” (327). At this point, darkness and shadow are a sign of unity and love, no longer a reminder of insurmountable divisions. At the press conference announcing the new Zeus, “Hades looks like a villain venturing out during the Twilight hours” (358), but he remains confident, assuring Persephone they belong together and trusting in her to help him navigate the media landscape. The world of the upper city can no longer alter their commitments or separate them.
