Look Closer

Content Warning: This section briefly mentions racism, sexual assault, addiction, abuse, suicide, and violence.

“Watching her, no matter how glamorous her looks, how sexy her outfit, conjures the image of a butcher’s freezer, the slabs of beef hanging from large hooks in the ceiling.”

This quotation is an early glimpse of the novel’s theme of appearance versus reality. Lauren is a beautiful woman and relies on her looks throughout her life to manipulate others. However, she winds up being treated as a “piece of meat” in death.

“As a wise woman once told me: The best lies are the ones closest to the truth.”

The novel uses several unreliable narrators, including Simon. His admission here that lies work best when they echo the truth is a technique he will use throughout the narrative. After finishing the novel and understanding Simon and Vicky’s plan, the reader is able to pick out which of his lies were actually true.

“Why do privileged old white men in black robes get to decide what it’s like to be an African American kid stopped on the street by a cop? Why do lawyers think that saying “inter alia” instead of “among other things” makes them sound smarter?”

In this passage, Simon reveals his frustration with both the elitism and the racial and class inequality inherent to the justice system. His desire for justice and his love of the law exist in tension with the illegal (and arguably immoral) actions he takes for revenge. This makes him a complicated character who is neither wholly good nor wholly evil.