Identity and secrecy
Who knows a person better than that person himself or herself? This novel is full to the brim of characters discovering each other's secrets, about the affairs they have indulged in, about their bad habits, and even in many cases their ethnic and religious backgrounds are hidden from each other for a time. They struggle to understand their role in their community with the secrets, and as they learn about each other, there is drama which unfolds.
Independence and autonomy
This novel features a difficult decision when Jenny realizes that she must move on from certain boy toys and friends, people that if she's being honest, she doesn't really love the way she likes to pretend she does. She realizes in a wave that she is truly alone, and there is a crisis of independence, because when no on is watching or listening to her, she feels frantic. The feeling drives her symbolically toward church, because the issues are existential.
Happiness
The point of the book is not misery or drama. The real point is implied in Robin's decisions, because she consistently chooses what she feels will make her happy. When she's being more moralistic, that typically corresponds to her belief that perhaps moralism will make her happy, and when it doesn't she moves past moralism into indulgence. She indulges in affairs, in pleasure, in glamour, and finds that, ultimately, they don't actual lead to happiness.
