Eros and Thanatos (Motif)
The Freudian concept of Eros and Thanatos is a recurring motif in The Sense of an Ending. The notion that humans are driven by the interweaving and opposing instincts that bring us toward love (Eros) and to death (Thanatos) first arises when Adrian analyzes an anonymous poem. He impresses his classmates by interpreting the poem as being about the conflict that emerges when the love principle comes into conflict with the death principle. The motif comes up again when the boys are discussing Robson's suicide, reportedly in response to an unplanned pregnancy. Adrian comments that "Thanatos wins again," and Alex jokes that Robson wasn't exactly "Eros-and-Thanatos material." Tony thinks of this comment decades later when he recalibrates his understanding of Adrian upon learning that he killed himself in response to being in a situation identical to Robson's: pulled toward sex, then just as quickly pulled toward death.
Adrian’s Diary (Symbol)
Adrian Finn's diary—left to Tony in Sarah Ford's will—is a symbol of unattainable knowledge. Although he cannot fathom why Veronica's mother would have possessed Adrian's diary upon her death, nor why she would think to give it to him, Tony becomes obsessed with obtaining the diary, if only to get answers about why it was left to him. Veronica, however, obstructs his attempts to get it, even claiming that she burnt it. When she provides a photocopied page of calculations that seemingly implicates Tony in Adrian's decision to kill himself, Tony's desire for total clarity only increases. It is only at the end of the novel that Tony finally pieces Veronica's clues together and realizes his cruel letter to Adrian was instrumental in bringing about Adrian and Sarah's affair, Sarah's pregnancy, and Adrian's suicide. However, the diary itself remains elusive, meaning Tony does not know if Adrian truly believed Tony was responsible.
Inverted Wristwatch (Symbol)
When Tony and his friends are high school students, they wear their wristwatches on the inside—a symbol of their bond as friends. While Tony admits that the inversion is an "affectation" designed to set them apart from regular people, the turned-in watches also give Tony and his friends a sense of belonging and identity. Upon adding Adrian Finn to their group, Tony and his friends hope he will follow their lead and flip his watch too. However, Adrian never takes up the trend, a defiance that subtly keeps Adrian at a distance from the others.
Severn Bore (Symbol)
At several points in the novel, Tony references his 1960s visit to the natural phenomenon known as the Severn Bore—a symbol for the mutability of time and memory. Caused by changes in the tide filling up an estuary, the modest series of tidal waves that comprise the Severn Bore makes it look as though the water in the Severn River is moving upstream. To emphasize the peculiar experience of recalling old memories anew, Tony likens the phenomenon to time itself moving backward: "When these new memories suddenly came upon me—it was as if, for that moment, time had been placed in reverse. As if, for that moment, the river ran upstream."
Tony's Cruel Letter (Symbol)
Tony's mean-spirited letter to Adrian and Veronica is a symbol of time's tendency to rewrite one's memory. Tony sends the letter after dwelling over the betrayal he feels upon learning his friend and ex-girlfriend started a relationship behind his back. At the time, it is an expedient means of venting his anger and denouncing the couple. However, forty years later, Tony re-reads the letter and is horrified by the extent of his cruelty; he needs to drink several glasses of whiskey to muster the courage to read his own words. His immaturity and misogyny is on full display as he calls Veronica a "bitch" and a "cock-tease," and insinuates without evidence that she is an incestuous abuse victim and that Adrian therefore should not trust her. He is humbled by the need to adjust his idea of himself when confronted with the evidence laid out in the letter.
