An Anonymous Girl: A Novel

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses suicide, in addition to strong psychological manipulation.

Psychological manipulation is a motif that illuminates characters, including their motives and flaws, and their views on The Nature of Morality. Dr. Shields and Thomas are both psychologists who take advantage of their positions of power in the narrative. Dr. Shields, specifically, uses her knowledge of psychology and own personal adeptness at manipulating others to control what people do and think. Dr. Shields manipulates Thomas, attempting to win him back and prove to herself that he still loves her. Jessica manipulates them both, finding ways to earn money while keeping herself generally safe. Dr. Shields’s main tactics of psychological manipulation are distraction, sympathy, excuses, threats, and lying. She also uses her appearance, professional reputation, and knowledge of both Jessica’s and Thomas’s lives to manipulate them. Jessica feels as though she is caught in a web of Dr. Shields’s doing, and she cannot escape even if she wanted to: “It’s like she is writing my script, and I’m just reciting the lines now” (367). Thomas later reveals that he feels the same way.

Dr. Shields often references the ways a therapist should act and perform, including revealing nothing of themselves in their office décor and refraining from becoming emotionally involved: “Therapists are trained to set aside their own turbulent emotions and focus on their clients” (203).