Things We Hide From the Light

Lina surprises Nash with a skydiving experience. For Lina, skydiving is the ideal of empowered isolation. Alone dropping through open space, the earth spread out below, Lina relishes the magisterial feel of autonomy and control. Nash, on the other hand, is terrified of airplanes and avoids any job-related responsibilities that might entail flying. As they head to the skydiving facility, Nash grows nervous, wondering why take the risk to jump.

In the novel, skydiving symbolizes the kind of trust that marks a good relationship, which should combine the exhilaration of the unknown with the stability of nonjudgmental support. When Nash and Lina jump in tandem, their dive is perfect—a metaphor for how well they fit together. As they drift toward the earth, securely fastened together, they feel “apart from the world,” immersed in “silence, peace, and beauty” (489). For the few moments they are airborne, their anxieties and fears about life disappear completely.

For Lina, jumping with Nash means feeling the heavy weight of him attached to her jumpsuit—knowing that in this moment, Nash is fully dependent on her. For Nash, signing the documents agreeing to jump, signals how far he is willing to go for Lina: “I will sign my own death warrant, defy gravity in a tiny tin can, and then hurl myself out of it with her.