False Witness

Leigh is the primary protagonist of False Witness, and the bulk of the narrative focuses on her perspective. Leigh’s character embodies The Futility of Trying to Escape the Past. Following Buddy’s murder, Leigh fled to Chicago. However, she has ended up back in Atlanta, facing her demons. While Leigh seems to be the sister who has everything together, Leigh also suffers from her traumatic history. These trauma bonds link Leigh to Callie and create an intense loyalty between the sisters. However, they also lead to self-destructive behaviors. In Callie’s case, it’s her substance use. In Leigh’s case, it’s self-sabotaging, a “pattern” Callie recognizes:

If Callie had a needle fixation, Leigh had a chaos fixation. Her big sister longed for the calm normalcy of life with Walter and Maddy, but every time she reached a certain level of tranquility, she found a way to blow it up. Over the years, Callie had watched the pattern play out dozens of times (208).

Leigh’s self-sabotaging seems to stem from guilt surrounding her perceived role in Callie’s abuse. Leigh is intensely guilty about the fact that she was sexually assaulted by Buddy first and then still allowed Callie to babysit for him.