It's Not Summer Without You

The infinity-symbol necklace crops up several times throughout the text as a talisman for Belly. Finding the necklace tucked away in his college dorm gives her the tangible evidence of Conrad’s feelings that she’s been searching for: “It was for me. He’d bought it for me. Here was my proof. Proof that he really did care” (97). She wears it secretly and often touches it to remind herself of this proof. Her desperation for such a sign allows her to overlook the fact that Conrad did not give her the necklace before they broke up.

It is not until the end of the book that Conrad allows himself to even imply the necklace is in fact a symbol; Belly herself doesn’t explicitly explain its meaning until Conrad, angry at finding her locked in an embrace with Jeremiah, confronts her about the necklace: “‘You know what it means.’ I shook my head. ‘I don’t.’ But of course I did. I remembered when he’d explained the concept of infinity to me. Immeasurable, one moment stretching out to the next. He bought me that necklace. He knew what it meant” (263).

While Conrad never states what the necklace means, Belly understands its implication: that his feelings for Belly are boundless, ongoing, and unending.