A Good Neighborhood

“If this had been the extent of it, if they’d been able to greet each other then leave it at that—well, everything would have been a lot simpler for everyone. To say the least.”

The narrators interject after Xavier and Juniper first meet to foreshadow the disastrous events that take place as the result of their relationship. The author uses an understatement by saying things would have been simpler, which serves to delay exposing the tragic nature of the story.

“We need to keep at least seven trees for every human on the planet, or else people are going to start suffocating.”

Valerie’s love for trees serves to develop her character as well as to advance the plot. While other issues, such as racism and sexism, are the primary focus, the author stresses the role trees play in the health of the environment. By including this specific fact, she intends to inspire people to protect trees.

“We won’t pretend that no one paid attention to this contrast. Of course we did. Mostly we felt it gave them an exotic appeal, a kind of celebrity status in a neighborhood that had come to think of itself as progressive yet was not doing much to demonstrate that character.”

The residents of Oak Knoll think of themselves as progressive, but they display racism in their opinion of Valerie and Tom’s interracial marriage. They see them as a visible symbol of their progressive beliefs, but by thinking of them in this way, they are objectifying and commodifying the couple. This is an example of implicit racism.