With very few exceptions, the men of the novel are abusive and power-hungry. The two characters who embody this theme most vividly are the Eastwood sisters’ unnamed father and Gideon Hill. Both are intent on maintaining control at all costs. They are jealous of the privileges that their society accords them and refuse to share these with women, or even other men. Although elements of their behavior suggest a social dynamic in which men are utterly confident of their control of women, Harrow examines their despicable, socially-enabled behavior in another light. It isn’t the intoxication of total power that drives these men, but fear. Harrow depict patriarchy as emotionally destructive for men as well: Both men are deeply afraid that the women they oppress might someday overpower them, and this damages their ability to empathize with others, causing further harm.

Juniper recalls her father locking her in the basement to reinforce her insignificance: “Her daddy would say: Don’t forget what you are, girl. Then he would toss her down in the worm-eaten dark and hiss the answer: Nothing” (9). The Eastwood father wages a psychologically abuses his daughters, indoctrinating them with the notion of their own powerlessness.