Family
One of the main themes in the novel is family. Bill and Alice are a young couple in America, living in a society that promotes sex outside marriage and promiscuous behavior. The characters presented in the movie all seem to engage in extramarital sex and cheat on their partners without feeling shameful. Alice and Bill stand out because even though they are offered the opportunity to cheat on their partners, they do not do it out of consideration for the person they married. Alice openly admits that she felt tempted to cheat on her husband but decided against it because she did not want to ruin her marriage and her confession pushes Bill to go and actively search for occasions to cheat on Alice. Even though the opportunities presented themselves, Bill remained faithful and decided to confess what he had done in the past days to his wife.
Honesty
Another theme in the film is honesty and how it can affect those close to us. The natural tendency is to believe that honesty would help people feel closer to their loved ones but in the film the completely opposite thing happens. In the movie, every character is extremely honest and this affects their relationship in a negative way. Bill admits that he never felt jealous and that he never felt threatened by other men even though he knew that his wife needed to hear that he was jealous. Alice was also honest when she admitted that she was tempted to cheat on her husband and this only pushed Bill to want to cheat on her as well and to want to prove that he was not as harmless as everyone thought him to be. Bill continued to want to be honest and he decided he must confess to his wife what he had done even if that meant possibly ruining his relationship with Alice.
Sexuality
The characters in the film are all obsessed with the idea of sexuality and they engage in various activities that help them alleviate the tension they feel. The movie presents various characters who earn a living by providing sexual favors and others, such as the businessman who invited Bill and Alice to the party who associated sex with power. In every case, sex and its power are analyzed through different lenses and form different perspectives to prove just how much can sex control a man’s life.
