Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and analyzes the source text’s depiction of grief and trauma, controlling behavior, domestic violence that results in death, mental illness, and death by suicide.

“I liked it. If I weren’t afraid of my own voice, I’d tell her thank you. Instead I put down the backpack from my shoulders then turned and hugged her. That would have to be enough.”

Maggie Carlton chooses to remain silent as a defense mechanism after her father kills her mother. She wants to be able to express her feelings to her aunt, uncle, and cousin, but talking frightens her. She is afraid of her voice because she doesn’t want her to share her memories or reconnect with her former self. Her inability to speak at the start of the novel illustrates her Coping with Grief and Trauma over losing her parents.

“It was the end to our summer and the beginning of our senior year. But I was going to need a beer or six to celebrate. Watching my dad throw up blood as my mother wiped his forehead with pure fear in her eyes—that had been too damn much.”

West Ashby distracts himself from his pain and grief by drinking, having sex, and partying. Although he has friends, he doesn’t tell them about his dad’s illness and impending death. He chooses to mask his feelings as a way to protect himself from his traumatic experiences. His complicated family circumstances therefore inspire his journey towards personal growth.

“‘You like what you see?’ I taunted her, hoping she’d run from me. She didn’t deserve this; using her to ease my pain wasn’t right. And I was angry and couldn’t control my emotions anymore. They stayed so raw all the time. Just like everyone else in my path, she was someone I was pushing away for her own safety.”

West uses Maggie the way he uses other girls when they first meet at the field party. He knows that he’s being insensitive, but he is so accustomed to disregarding others’ feelings that he lapses into aggressive behavior. However, this passage reveals West’s contradictory nature. He is both prone to anger and capable of recognizing his flaws.