Hanya Yanagihara
To Paradise (2022)
“To Paradise” is a 2022 novel by American novelist Hanya Yanagihara. The book, Yanagihara's third,
takes place in an alternate version of New York City, and has three sections, respectively set in 1893,
1993, and 2093.[1] Though a bestseller, the novel received mixed reviews from critics.[2][3]
While reading Hanya Yanagihara's massive novel, To Paradise, I had the urge to make a chart to help
me understand its complex plot. The book consists of three interconnected novels that puzzle the
reader with their logic and mechanisms. The first novel, "Washington Square," is set in an alternate
version of 1890s New York City. In this world, the Bingham family, who run the primary bank of the Free
States, navigate a tense coexistence among various nations after the War of Rebellion. Homosexuality
and gay marriage are accepted, but Black people are not considered citizens. David, a member of the
Bingham family, falls in love with a musician named Edward, even though his grandfather wants him to
marry Charles, an older man.
In Book 2, "Lipo-Wao-Nahele," the story focuses on a young Hawaiian man named David Bingham who
lives with his older partner, Charles, in the same house as the Binghams in the previous book. David is a
descendant of Hawaii's last monarch and is part of a movement advocating for Hawaiian independence.
Set in the 1990s, the AIDS epidemic is devastating David and Charles's community in New York,
highlighting the loss of a generation. Meanwhile, David struggles with his conflicted feelings about his
homeland, his ancestry, and his father, whose perspective is shared in the book.
Book 3 is a significant part of the novel and focuses on a United States that becomes a totalitarian
dictatorship due to recurring pandemics and climate disasters. It takes place in Greenwich Village, now
known as Zone Eight, from 2043 to 2094. The story is narrated by Charles, a virologist and influential
government adviser, and Charlie, the daughter of Charles's son, David. Charlie has survived one
pandemic but suffers from long-term neurological issues. This is just a basic summary of the trilogy.
To Paradise is a complex and fast-paced novel that moves smoothly and quickly. Like Yanagihara's
previous novel, A Little Life, it is a large and engaging book that explores deeply felt lives on a grand
scale. However, To Paradise is less violent and bleak than its predecessor, with a more traditional plot
structure. The book is executed with skill and rich detail, drawing readers in like a knife through a cake.
The novel features four characters named David, Charles, Peter, and Edward who appear in all three
books. Some characters share the same surnames across centuries, but it is unclear if they are related.
Two of the books are set in Hawaii and all three feature butlers named Adams. The novels are centered
around a townhouse on Washington Square. While the first and third books take place in a speculative
version of America, it is uncertain if these alternative Americas are connected throughout the novel.
Each book could be presenting its own version of history.
These books explore the struggles of gay men who are failed by their powerful grandfathers, facing
illness and plagues that haunt them and their descendants. Each book ends with a character yearning
for paradise, but their visions differ.
As I continued reading, I started to believe that the challenge the author presents to the reader is not to
solve a puzzle, but to survive a journey into chaos theory. The intertwined storylines in the book show
how humans are trapped in mysterious coincidences and their consequences, and how unaware we are
of the long-term effects of our actions. To Paradise explores the overwhelming idea that small events
and personal choices can lead to countless alternate histories and futures, both for individuals and
society. Reading the novel gives you a thrilling and eerie sensation, like standing in front of an infinity
mirror with endless versions of yourself and rooms just beyond your grasp.
The butterfly effect is a principle of chaos theory that states small changes can have significant effects.
Edward Lorenz discovered this while studying weather patterns and found that even tiny variations in
initial inputs could lead to large differences in outcomes. He compared it to a butterfly flapping its
wings, which could potentially change the weather indefinitely.
In the novel, Yanagihara explores different scenarios in an altered version of America. The story
imagines a world where race and class remain sources of injustice and oppression, but sexuality is not. It
also considers what would happen if Hawaii declared independence, and if the government prioritized
virus containment over civil liberties during pandemics. The book raises questions about how much
would need to change for the world to be truly different, and what changes might seem significant but
ultimately leave the world unchanged.
In Book 2, David realizes that he and Charles only know each other in certain aspects and their
relationship is based on certain circumstances. He reflects on how they both seem unable to imagine
each other outside of their current experiences. This leads to his thoughts expanding further. The
passage suggests imagining scenarios where the world and their surroundings drastically change, such as
Manhattan becoming a flooded island or a frosty metropolis. It also mentions the idea of a familiar New
York, but without any deaths and a normal party with friends.
The book "Zone Eight" explores the uncertainty of life through the letters of scientist Charles Griffith to
his friend Peter over several decades. The story also follows Charles's granddaughter, Charlie, as she
navigates her own life after Charles's death. Charles starts as a young husband and father working at a
prestigious lab in New York, hoping to make a difference in preventing pandemics. However, as time
passes and global pandemics worsen, Charles's letters reveal the gradual unfolding of disaster.
Over time, the protagonist's decisions, such as collaborating with the government and avoiding conflicts,
gradually become significant and lead to negative consequences. Eventually, he realizes that he missed
the opportunity to leave the totalitarian regime he helped establish. The narrator had always thought
that awareness of a dangerous situation would happen slowly and gradually, but instead, it happened
suddenly and unexpectedly. While people were going about their daily lives, various measures were
being taken to restrict movement and transportation. The protagonist, Charles, believed he was making
the right decisions but ended up making more and more wrong choices. These decisions resulted in
catastrophic consequences for his family, the community, and future generations. Despite being a
normal and concerned scientist, Charles couldn't foresee the disastrous outcome of his actions.
The author of this book discusses how small choices can have unexpected consequences in fiction.
However, the author finds it particularly compelling in this book because the protagonist's world closely
resembles our own potential future. We currently live in a world that is affected by pandemics and
natural disasters, and we are also vulnerable to authoritarianism. The protagonist arrives in New York in
the 2040s, and the city still looks similar to how it does today. This raises questions about the seemingly
insignificant choices we make that could determine our future disasters or successes. The author taps
into the anxieties of the current moment, where there are many warnings about potential apocalypses
that could be avoided if action is taken. As an American in 2021, it feels like we have the power to either
cause or prevent these disasters.
In Yanagihara's book "To Paradise," she effectively portrays how the chaos of the present unfolds into
the future, both on a global scale and in personal relationships. The same forces that drive major
political changes also affect individual marriages and interactions between generations. Energy, whether
potential or active, does not disappear but rather transfers. This idea of continuity and possibility can be
seen as hopeful, but in this story, it is also overwhelming and trapping.
The story tells of a lizard that eats everything on Earth, including the moon. However, no matter how
hard the lizard tries to stop it, the moon continues to rise. Eventually, the moon bursts forth from the
earth and continues on its path. Charles is expressing the idea that humans are both like lizards and the
moon. Some of us will die, but the rest will continue on, unaware and driven by our instincts, following a
mysterious and unstoppable pattern.
The point of “To Paradise” is the dark history of the US annexation of Hawaii is too complex to unpack
here, but it is one of the key themes running through the novel; how American capitalism warped and
curdled Hawaii's sense of itself.
A major theme in the novel is the disillusionment, or disappointment one feels as one grows older.
Amory realizes that the heroes, great people, and ideas that one idealizes during one's youth are just
human too. Overall themes definitely emerge regarding privilege, the nature of love, the meaning of
freedom, how we strive for utopian ideals, the state of America and questions surrounding
national/racial/sexual identity.
