A Rule Against Murder

Mythology is a motif that runs throughout the novel. When the Morrow children were young, Irene read to them from a book of myths, a copy of which has been passed to Bean by Marianna. Bean’s myth book, besides being a source of imaginative inspiration, becomes the child’s constant companion and a source of comfort, connecting to Penny’s theme of Family Armor. Bean only releases the book when utterly defenseless, held dangling over the side of the roof by Pierre.

The myth of Pandora plays a role in the novel. Peter has been preoccupied with the story since he was a child, and when struggling to resist his temper, often thinks of it: “He fought to shove the rage back in, stuffing it down there with anger and jealousy and fear and hate, hate, hate. But Pandora’s box wouldn’t be shut” (219). However, at the end of the novel, Peter’s thinking about the myth of Pandora shifts when he hears the end of the story, which his mother had never told them, in which the only thing left in the bottom of the box is hope. This myth, for Peter, therefore resolves in parallel with the solving of the murder.