39 pages • 1 hour read
Bone Gap
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Themes
Appearance Versus Identity
The way characters see themselves often doesn’t align with how they appear and the way that others see them. For example, Roza’s outward beauty attracts attention, but it’s not a reflection of who she really is. Most people don’t get to see her true self—that she is a strong, smart, capable woman who is brave in the face of danger, stands up for others, and genuinely loves life. The experience of being seen makes her enjoy Finn and Sean’s company; she feels “so light around them” (237). The pressure to be perfect has weighed so long on Roza; she has never known another way to be. Sean and Finn let her be her true self, and she enjoys being with them.
People also don’t see Finn for who he truly is. Like with Roza, people notice his attractive features. He’s viewed, like his mother, as spacey and distractible. This is due to his face blindness, which no one, including Finn, realizes he has until later in the novel. It’s the source of one of the biggest misunderstandings between Finn and Petey. Rather than seeing Finn for who he is, Petey latches onto her fears and ideas that feed her insecurities. Petey has been labeled as a “butterface” girl, meaning that people find her body attractive but not her face. However, she is so much more than her appearance and the false rumors that she is sexually promiscuous. She is a brave, caring person. She takes the time to see people for who they truly are, like when she discovers Finn’s face blindness.
Before being tainted by others’ skewed perceptions, Petey enjoyed her looks: “Petey would catch a glimpse of herself in a mirror or a window or the surface of a still pond and find her own outsize features interesting and unusual—unforgettable even. And how would that ever be a bad thing?” (160). She didn’t see how being unique could really be so bad. Petey and other characters know who they are at their core. Tension ensues when this conflicts with how society sees them.
The Duties of Brothers
While the novel features romantic relationships, it also emphasizes the love and bond between siblings Finn and Sean. This relationship is also filled with tension. Although they grew up in the same household, they experienced and processed events differently. When their dad died, Finn was only six. Sean was significantly older and remembers a lot more of what their dad and mother were like. He could process the tragedy of their father’s death and took on a lot of responsibility, which only compounded when their mother left Finn in his care. Finn has always been somewhat unmoored from the world around him. His only true anchor in life is Sean, who he loses emotionally when Roza disappears.
Sean gives up his dreams of becoming a doctor to raise Finn. He settles for being an EMT. He stands up to the people who tease his brother and acts as Finn’s support system. However, Sean realizes he feels burdened by his duty to Finn, especially when he thinks it’s Finn’s fault that Roza, his love, is gone.
When Finn realizes he may have face blindness and Sean finds him with all the photos, Finn knows:
Here was his chance. He could show Sean all this stuff right now. He could explain. But what good would that do? What would it prove? That he was weird? That he was different? Sean knew that already, knew it better than anyone, even though he never talked about it with Finn, never asked the right questions (271).
Finn doesn’t reveal his condition to Sean because he doesn’t feel it would change anything. He also wants Sean to realize it for himself, and to care about him again. Finn wants to bring Roza back, not just because he cares about Roza, but because he sees it as the only way to fix his relationship with Sean. Finn risks his life and pursues Roza, despite how dangerous and strange it is, because he loves Sean. He wants him back.
Sean and Finn have made enormous sacrifices for one another. Ruby shows it’s what a person does when they love someone else. In portraying their relationship, she shows the strength and importance of familial bonds.
Worldview and Perception
Ruby uses free indirect discourse to give us multiple characters’ points of view, including Finn, Roza, Petey, Sean, Charlie, and the people of Bone Gap. As an article from an Oregon State professor describes it: “In this point of view, a third-person narrator stops describing the worldview of a given character—telling us what he or she thinks—and instead presents that worldview as if it were the narrator’s. As I like to think of it, free indirect discourse describes moments in a third-person narrative when the narrator becomes infected by the perspective of one of its characters” (Malewitz, Raymond. “What is Free Indirect Discourse – Transcript.” www.liberalarts.oregonstate.edu.).
Free indirect discourse allows for deeper insight into the characters and the tension between them. It also illuminates how different experiences can lead to varied perceptions. Each character’s unique background and struggles gives them a different outlook on life.
Finn’s entire perception of himself shifts when Petey brings up his face blindness. He never realized how he saw the world differently than others, and understanding it is freeing. By seeing himself clearly, he is able to move forward and help others.
The theme of different worldviews also manifests in Finn’s relationship with Petey. From Petey’s perspective, Finn is embarrassed to be with her at the diner and tries to hide her from public view because she’s ugly. She thinks Finn likes her only because her face is different and memorable. From Finn’s point of view, he’s not embarrassed by her; he’s frustrated with the people of Bone Gap. He doesn’t think she’s ugly and isn’t taking advantage of her; the idea that others could tarnish their relationship or make Petey’s life hard makes him want to move tables. Although this is a hitch in their relationship, it brings them together; they’re able to swap perspectives and discuss them in a healthy, open way.
The whole town’s view also shifts. At the beginning of the novel, they see Finn as a spacey kid who may be involved in Roza’s disappearance. By the end, they recognize him as a hero. His heroism and character didn’t change, but it took a major shift for the town to see him differently. Ruby shows how life experiences shape one’s worldview, and how additional perspectives can form a more complete picture.
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