A Vintage Thunderbird

3 Pages 782 Words

Love Is More Than A Heart
Love is a very important thing to most people and as the saying goes ‘you can never choose who you love’. This is very true of the love between Nick and Karen, the main characters in Ann Beattie’s A Vintage Thunderbird. This fictional short story is rich in meaning and symbolism. When Nick is mugged, the character Stephanie, and most importantly the vintage Thunderbird all are symbols of Nick and Karen’s love for each other and their relationship. According to the hidden meaning of these events these two are meant to be together forever.
Stephanie is a mutual friend of both Nick and Karen. In a time when Karen has run off to Bermuda, Stephanie comes to see Nick in need of being rescued. Stephanie has found herself pregnant and not wanting to be. For two weeks the two of them bond while waiting for Karen to return. Once she came back Karen and Nick were able to get over there argument to help Stephanie. They helped her to make and follow-through with a very difficult decision. This only proves that no matter how upset they are that Nick and Karen really love each other and are able to pull to together in a time of need. Stephanie is the only woman who doesn’t get Nick beaten.
Nick has been mugged twice since he first met Karen. Over a year ago, when Nick went to visit an old girlfriend and they squabbled. As Nick was leaving he was assaulted by a teenager, who left him with out a wallet or cigarettes and badly bruised. If Nick had only stayed in the city with Karen this never would have happened. The second time that Nick is battered was while on a date with another woman. He had corresponded with Karen shortly before and she had asked Nick to leave the woman he was seeing to talk to her, Nick refused. While on the date he felt pangs of guilt for treating Karen the way that he had so he called her. She gave him the ultimatum of coming to see her right then or not at all. Nick said good-bye to his d...