Patterns
One of the novel's main themes is patterns. Lincoln comments in his chapter that his job as a "counter" is to analyze the consumer behavior of Mandala's customers. This work allows the company to better understand and predict how they will behave. Lincoln's work is predicated upon the innovative anthropological studies of Miranda Kline, whose daughters eventually sell her research to keep their father's record company financially stable. Miranda and the Mandala employees work towards opposite goals, and Miranda eventually becomes Mandala's staunchest critic; at the same time, they both have faith in the idea that individual lives, if carefully observed, yield patterns that provide essential insight into why people act in certain ways. Interestingly, the book raises this idea without placing a strict value judgment on it. As Lincoln notes, like the rhyme scheme of a poem, the predictability of human behavior does not make it any less beautiful.
Privacy
One of the poem's other main themes is privacy. Many characters are enthralled by Bix's innovation: the ability to upload consciousness to a cloud and experience the memories of almost anyone in the world. However, many characters show trepidation at what this means for privacy and autonomy. Miranda Kline views this invention as a gross invasion of personal freedom. She disappears from public view, becoming one of the most prominent "eluders," individuals who attempt to confuse Mandala's counters by creating fake digital personas. Similarly, Chris Salazar is disturbed by the implications of Mandala's products and firmly believes no company should have that level of access to its consumers. Finally, Bix himself, on his deathbed, feels that he has made a grave error in allowing for this unfettered connection to the minds of others. He ends up leaving a chunk of his savings to Mondrian, as part of an effort to make amends for the world he has created. While "Own Your Unconscious," and its related products, are seen as sorely tempting by its characters, the book seems to ask how much necessary privacy is lost in its irreversible aftermath.
Storytelling
The novel also examines the idea of storytelling. In the chapter focused on Chris Salazar, he is shown deconstructing story beats into "stockblocks" with algebraic equations. He focuses on the branching possibilities of a particular scene, observing the potentially different turns a story can take. He begins to do the same thing when his workday takes a particularly dramatic twist and he is stuck with someone else's suitcase, whose contents he refuses to examine. Throughout the day, he imagines the different genres his story takes on and his situation grows increasingly stressful. Likewise, in the chapter about Gregory, one of his writing professors is described as coming up with the idea of "word casings," referring to stock language that is cliche and doesn't actually capture what the writer is trying to describe. In this way, the novel shows the difficulties inherent in telling stories without recycling phrases and scenes that readers and viewers have already seen, many times over.
Correcting the Past
Another significant theme in the novel is the idea of correcting the past. One of the biggest draws of Mandala's products is the ability to relive a pivotal moment, and see it from every available perspective. Often this leads to characters fixating on what they could have done differently to change the final outcome of an event. In the chapter about Drew, he is shown repeatedly watching the moment in which he and Rob went swimming, trying to identify when he could have stopped him from drowning. Likewise, Roxy is deeply invested in revisiting her trip to London with her father, as she remembers it as the closest she ever was to him, and also the moment in which all of her hopes of building a relationship with him were squandered. In both cases, these characters are shadowed by the past and seek to examine it again and again, in the hopes that they can identify what went wrong.
Addiction
Addiction is also a prominent theme in the novel. Roxy, Chris's friend Colin, and Chris's ex-girlfriend Pamela are all recovering heroin addicts. Both Roxy and Colin eventually die as a result of overdoses. Roxy's chapter gives visceral insight into the way in which addiction forces a person to sacrifice every other part of their lives in order to maintain their drug use. Similarly, it also shows how she develops a "subterfuge sense," a term borrowed from Dungeons and Dragons, about the double purpose that various shops and restaurants serve, as she always knows where to buy drugs. The book shows how addiction ripples through every part of a user's life.
Redemption
As Miles Hollander comments in his chapter, Americans love redemption stories. The novel features many character arcs that resolve in some kind of redemption or second chance. In Miles's case, after losing his entire life to a prescription drug addiction, an affair, and a car accident, he visits his cousin Sasha. He experiences an urge to end his life on a hot air balloon ride but is saved by Sasha's husband Drew. In the surprising aftermath of this, he moves to California, makes a successful run for local government, and develops a close friendship with Drew. The suggestion of his story is that his life after this dark period is likely better and more fulfilling than his previously 'normal' one was. Like her earlier work, A Visit From the Goon Squad, Egan seems keenly interested in the way in which stories do not always resolve in the way the audience anticipates.
Love
Love is one of the novel's most central themes. It features as a major facet of almost every chapter. In Lincoln's section it crops up in the overwhelming romantic interest he feels for M as well as the thoughtful acts of care of his sister, Allison. In Melora's chapter, it is shown in the way that Lou tries to care for them better than he has for his children in the past. They return the favor by trying to make his life better, managing his business as well as his physical and mental health. In the final chapter of the novel, love is shown in the tenderness of Ames's family as they celebrate his moment of triumph at a baseball game.
