What Love Measures

This flow traces the novel’s comic attempts to quantify love and the shift from teasing calculations toward a renewed, less measurable affection.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

Teddy’s Accusation

Love as a Comparison A Friend’s Claim Teddy tells Hank that he does not love Lily as much as he should. He speaks as though his own distant longing gives him special authority to judge Hank’s marriage. A Joke Hides a Wound Hank responds with sarcasm, but Teddy’s tears suggest real pain beneath the absurd argument. Neither man can establish a reliable measure of what another person feels.

Tony’s Percentages

Affection as Statistics A Calculated Heart Tony describes love and affection in percentages, comparing exceptional devotion with the merely satisfactory feeling he once received from his wife. He treats emotional life like a chart that can be interpreted precisely. The Limits of the Model Hank wonders whether he is half in love with several women, including Lily, Meg, Rachel, and Bodie. The arithmetic makes desire funny without resolving what commitment means.

A Marriage in the High Nineties

Affection Returns Closer Together Hank feels himself in the high nineties for Lily and believes that she has grown fonder of him. Their shared routines and the family’s crowded summer give him evidence of renewed intimacy. A Number Withheld Lily refuses to translate her affection into Tony’s percentages. Her refusal reminds Hank that love cannot be made fully secure by measuring it.

Teddy Lets Go

Yearning Reconsidered A Private Decision Teddy tells Hank he intends to surrender his crush on Lily because he sees it as unhealthy. He expects to remain somewhat in love with her, but no longer treats that feeling as a possible future. Affection Without Claim Teddy’s choice permits friendship to continue without making Lily responsible for his desire. He and Hank remain close, though their history retains the emotional mark of the old confession.

A Crowded Summer House

Love in Company Many Relations at Once The Devereaux home fills with parents, children, former spouses, friends, and new partners. Their relationships do not fit a tidy romantic arrangement, but they share space and food. The Sound of Affection Later, Hank and Lily hear neighbors’ voices without understanding the words. He imagines that what reaches them is mostly affection, though no percentage can be assigned to it.

more than a decade before the novel’s present

the night Tony and Hank drink on Hank’s deck

the summer after Hank’s hospitalization

the summer after the department crisis

Memorial Day weekend, after the family reunions