61 pages • 2 hours read
Good Material
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Themes
The Unpredictability of Relationships
Alderton suggests in Good Material that relationships are complex, but confronting the inevitable uncertainty of loving others nurtures progress. The story examines how even the most outwardly stable relationships can quickly crumble. The theme of unpredictability permeates the novel’s relationships, leaving Andy to deal with the complex, often unexplained dynamics of love and loss. For example, he’s entirely unprepared for how his breakup with Jen affects his friendships: “There are so many hidden miniature break-ups within a big break-up” (64). His realizations about such unpredictability in the text underpin his character development as he learns how to manage relationships and stop outsourcing his own self-esteem.
The novel questions the idea that relationships follow a set route. Instead, they zigzag, loop, and challenge expectations. Through Andy, the narrative portrays experiences the desperate need, impulsive decisions, and elusive closure that accompany the dissolution of a romantic relationship. The confusion comes not just from the breakup itself but also from the aftermath, “The Madness,” as Emery calls it, which includes unanswered texts, obscure social media posts, and lingering memories. Andy’s search for answers proves futile, and he struggles with the impossibility of resolution. Breaking up with Jen forces Andy to reflect on all his previous relationships, and he finds that proper closure is impossible since relationships do not always end neatly, and emotional loose ends persist. Andy’s path epitomizes the unpredictable nature of love, with its flurry of emotions, surprising highs and lows, and perplexing turns.
The novel asserts that meaningful relationships, whether platonic or romantic, require vulnerability, shared values, and a willingness to endure the messiness of human emotions. Despite Andy’s assertion that he and Jen were perfect for each other, he chose to ignore the ways that they weren’t: “We made too much comedy of our differences and placed too much meaning on our similarities” (24). Jen’s emotional and physical needs changed as she aged, yet Andy’s remained the same. His nostalgic unwillingness to accept that relationships can change over time delays the inevitable. Similarly, Andy glosses over their age gap and dissimilar interests when he begins seeing Sophie. Embodying the ethos of the modern age, Sophie treats dating like a game, giving her a sense of control over the relationship. Andy wrongly goes along with Sophie’s assertion that she’s uninterested in monogamy and is surprised when “The Flip” happens, and he realizes that he’s losing interest, suggesting that “the person in charge in a relationship is the one who loves the least” (328). In the end, Andy must surrender the dream of perfection in a relationship and accept that the inherent flaws in humanity will always make relationships challenging.
Navigating Early Adulthood in the Modern World
The novel explores the effects of aging on relationships and careers as Andy sees friends reaching milestones while he feels left behind. Andy’s relationships are changing as he and his friends reach their mid-thirties. Most of his friends have partners and have started families, leading to shifts in their priorities. Andy feels left behind and disconnected from his peers because he is the only single one in the group. Mourning his carefree younger days, Andy wants to “be in the company of my teenage self and he can remind me of something about hope and youth and what it is to know you have things ahead of you that are new” (40). Apart from Jen, Andy’s friendships are his anchors, but he finds it increasingly difficult to connect with them, not just because they don’t have time for him but also because he’s jealous of what they have. Moreover, none appear to share the same nostalgia and have just accepted their aging as part of life. Avi says that they’re “[c]loser to fifty than twenty” jokingly (76), but the words reverberate in Andy’s head like an ominous knell. However, through Andy’s struggle to confront his age and stage in life, the novel normalizes the anxiety of not having it all figured out, the fear of failure, and the pressure to conform to societal norms.
The challenges of adulthood go beyond the interpersonal as Andy faces a career crisis. Andy’s career as a jobbing comedian remains unsteady, and he faces the daunting practicalities of living in London independently. Moreover, the comedy circuit is highly competitive and volatile, and Andy struggles to balance his creative integrity with market demands. He finds the grind of middle age unfulfilling and limiting: “How could I have let myself believe, even for a second, that single thirty-something life would be an endless buffet of opportunities, when I know it is, at best, small plates” (95). In the same way that he is growing and changing into middle age, Andy’s comedy must evolve too, but feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy stunt his creative process, and he relies too much on his old material. The novel captures the bittersweet pain of Andy watching Emery’s career soar while he slowly stagnates. Andy’s career struggles leave him underemployed and financially unstable, further adding to his physical and emotional stress. Andy’s experience highlights the struggle to find purpose and fulfillment in a competitive world and the challenges of choosing a creative vocation.
Early adulthood becomes a quest for authenticity for the characters, and through Jen’s narrative, the novel explores the tension between societal expectations and personal desires. Jen’s corporate job and four-year relationship symbolize societal markers of success for a 35-year-old as her salary, stability, and professional achievements align with conventional ideals. Yet, her heart yearns for more. Pursuing success doesn’t fulfill her emotional needs, yet she fears deviating from the expected path, disappointing her family, or facing judgment from peers. Society dictates that her relationship should follow a linear trajectory from dating to commitment to marriage, but Jen realizes that this path to conformity stifles her desires and emotional authenticity. Seeing her friends partner off and have children leads to feelings of loneliness and isolation yet also reinforces her certainty that motherhood isn’t for her. For Andy, accepting his adulthood means improving his mental health and focusing on his career. Still, for Jen, it means ending her long-term relationship, ignoring the fertility specialist’s advice, quitting her job, and fulfilling her dream of traveling through South America for a year. Jen’s story suggests that there is no right way to be an adult. Jen redefines success on her terms and liberates herself from her relationship and society’s expectations by choosing authenticity over conformity.
Finding Healthy Coping Mechanisms
The novel frequently explores how elephants grieve their dead, beginning with an epigraph from A Scattering by Christopher Reid and echoing throughout the narrative after Andy’s mother gives him a book about elephant grief, something that begins as sardonic humor and becomes a symbol of character development as Andy passes the book to Jon. In trying to understand his grief, Andy says, “Why do elephants have a relationship to the carcasses of their own kind? Why is this their chosen way of saying goodbye?” (208). By employing how elephants mourn by rearranging the bones of their dead as a metaphor for coping with grief, Alderton explores the different ways that people handle loss and highlights the pitfalls of leaning on unhealthy coping mechanisms to blunt the pain.
The beginning of Andy’s journey is full of emotional triggers. He says, “[e]verything is a sign since she left. Everything is another clue to help me understand what’s happening” (15). Andy becomes fixated on understanding what went wrong in his relationship with Jen, obsessively seeking answers, replaying memories, and dissecting their interactions. This coping mechanism provides a sense of control, and by analyzing the past, he hopes to find closure. Andy purchases all the bottles of Jen’s perfume at the store and ritualistically dumps them in the canal to try to rid himself of the painful memory of her scent. He also resorts to behaviors like drinking to excess and not getting enough rest. Andy also uses social media to track Jen’s life obsessively and eventually must resort to blocking her to protect himself. In a desperate attempt to understand Jen’s perspective, Andy schedules a fake therapy session and only becomes more frustrated when the therapist begins to uncover his issues. Along with obsessing about his physical appearance, Andy leans into what the novels presents as unhealthy compartmentalization and escapism, which leave him mentally and emotionally exhausted.
Andy realizes that facing his emotions head-on is a healthier alternative to denial or avoidance, and he begins building the resilience required for a new life; self-sufficiency becomes a healthy coping strategy. His first step is moving in with Morris. Avi and Jane are kind enough to allow Andy to stay with them, but he realizes that living in his best friend’s attic surrounded by emotional triggers isn’t healthy. Living independently is Andy’s first step towards emotional healing. However, Andy doesn’t truly begin to heal until he accepts that Jen no longer wants to be with him and accepts the loss. After their last hook-up, Andy makes one final list documenting his acceptance of the truth. Once he makes peace with her decision, Andy takes a step towards acceptance by using his breakup as new material for his stand-up act. Comedy is presented as a healthy outlet for Andy’s grief; as he explains, “hearing a room full of people laugh at my jokes is the best I’ve felt since the breakup” (83). Transforming his grief into art through his comedy provides Andy with a way to express his grief and is a cathartic process as he constructs the story of all the ways he went wrong in dealing with their breakup. Taking the stage and externalizing his emotions gives Andy the power he sought in all his other coping strategies. Moreover, his vulnerability in front of the audience creates a shared sense of empathy and authentic acceptance.
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