Penitence

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child death. 

David’s gun represents the fraught nature of gun control debates within American public discourse. David is not a staunch Second Amendment supporter, nor does he use firearms recreationally. He carries a work-issued firearm because he is a law enforcement officer, and he uses guns for hunting. He always keeps his gun in a locked safe when he is not at work and teaches his children about gun safety. Yet, Nora can access the safe because David does not make anyone leave the room when he locks the firearm away: Everyone in the house knows the safe’s password. David thus occupies a complex position within broader conversations about gun safety and gun violence: He does not support widespread access to firearms, but not adequately securing the guns he privately owns leads to the novel’s inciting incident.

The DA in Nora’s case does support widespread access to firearms. He believes that guns do not kill people; “people” kill people. For this reason, he places the blame for Nico’s killing squarely on Nora’s shoulders: She didn’t kill her brother because she had access to a gun, he argues, but because she is a cold-blooded killer.