The Wish

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness and death.

“Maggie Dawes, who considered herself a free spirit consumed by wanderlust, had always loved the idea of a New York Christmas, albeit in a look how pretty postcard kind of way. In reality, like a lot of New Yorkers, she did her best to avoid Manhattan during the holidays.”

The opening description of Maggie introduces her isolation and dislocation from the city where she lives, emphasizing the importance of the setting. This Maggie is vastly different from the one at the end of the text, as she learns to appreciate the side of Manhattan she has never seen.

“They were serious issues, but maybe to stave off her own depression when discussing such a miserable subject, she did her best to keep the videos as light in tone as possible. She supposed that was part of the reason for their popularity.”

Maggie’s thoughts give insight into her view of her diagnosis, while introducing The Importance of Human Connection When Coping With Difficult Circumstances. As Maggie struggles with her illness, she finds consolation both through connecting with others over her diagnosis online and through the power of the videos she makes. Talking about her diagnosis to others and publishing her thoughts online help both her and others cope with cancer.

“Long story short: The next three and a half years were a blur of treatment and recovery, with occasional flashes of hope illuminating dark tunnels of anxiety.”

This metaphor, which compares her illness to a dark tunnel, lends insight into Maggie’s suffering with her illness. It encapsulates so much of her life that she feels as though she is in a dark tunnel, while the things that typically bring her joy—her work, the gallery—are only “flashes” within that tunnel.