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Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
“Honeycomb”
The song “Honeycomb” represents Billy’s dreams for a stable and happy future with Camila. He writes the song when he first gets sober, and it articulates his promise to get Camila a farmhouse in North Carolina. The subtext is that he promises her he’ll remain clean and devote himself to becoming the husband and father she believes he can be, despite his past drug use and infidelity. “Honeycomb” is also the first song that Daisy sings with The Six. When Daisy sings “Honeycomb,” she turns Billy’s promises into questions, which brings out a sense of doubt and insecurity. This hits a nerve with Billy precisely because he’s filled with doubt and insecurity about whether he can make good on his promises to his wife. It also reflects the fact that Billy is tempted both by Daisy’s substance use and by his attraction to her from the very beginning of their collaboration, and this temptation threatens his dreams for a stable future. In their final performance together, Daisy reflects Billy’s original words back to him, illustrating the faith she has in him. Billy is moved by her faith and eventually makes good on his promise to Camila, who lives for decades in the North Carolina farmhouse he builds her.
Daisy’s Bare Feet
Throughout the novel, Daisy is often depicted as going barefoot, which symbolizes both her uniqueness and her vulnerability to the world. Going without shoes makes Daisy stand out, reflecting her free spirit, her artistic nature, and how unfettered she is by other people’s opinions. When Billy first sees her without shoes, he judges her and wishes she would behave in a more conventional way. He judges her uniqueness because he struggles to walk a traditional path, to remain sober and faithful to his wife, especially around Daisy. At the same time, Daisy’s bare feet reflect how vulnerable her differences make her. She’s alone in the world, without parents or many friends outside of Simone, and her loneliness often causes her to turn to substances. This is illustrated during a poolside party, when, surrounded by acquaintances, Daisy drops her drink and steps on the shards of glass with her bare feet, too intoxicated to feel pain. Daisy is bare to the world, unprotected by its conventions.
Lola La Cava
The name Lola La Cava, the pseudonym Daisy uses to protect herself from fans, represents the dark aspects of her psyche. Daisy uses her real name when she’s on stage, where a pseudonym is most expected, and uses her pseudonym in everyday situations where people typically use their legal names, such as renting a hotel room. The use of this pseudonym reflects the way Daisy often feels most herself on stage while feeling out of place, inauthentic, or misunderstood in more conventional circumstances. The surname La Cava means “wine cellar” in Spanish or “hole” or “cellar” in Italian, the native language of Daisy’s toxic husband Nicky. This meaning evokes Daisy’s use of drugs and alcohol to hide from the world and herself. This behavior leads to her darkest moments when she’s trying to avoid her love for Billy. During her narcotic binge with Nicky, she is in a dark place, a hole, where she almost loses her life in fires, on rooftops, and in near overdoses. Thus, the name Lola La Cava encapsulates Daisy’s dark tendencies and her desire to hide, not just from fans, but from herself.
