Pretty Girls

“At the jail, Claire’s wedding ring, watch, and tennis shoelaces had been taken by a large woman with a mole between her hairy eyebrows whose general appearance reminded Claire of a stinkbug. There was no hair growing out of the mole, and Claire wanted to ask why she bothered to pluck the mole but not her eyebrows, but it was too late because another woman, this one tall and reedy like a praying mantis, was already taking Claire into the next room [...] ‘Press evenly,’ the praying mantis said, chewing off the wings of a fly.”

Claire dehumanizes the women officers by pointing out their ugly features and drawing similarities to bugs. It is oddly antifeminist of Claire to discount these women purely based upon their looks, and her petty insults reveal that perhaps image and appearance—being pretty—are more important to her self-image than she may realize. This attack on others’ appearances does not extend to male policemen in the same scene, so Claire clearly nurtures a gendered bias.

“Optimism is a sliver of glass in your heart.”

Sam Carroll is an example of a person thoroughly chewed up and spit out by grief. This quoted metaphor is a great example of the visceral pain caused by the false hope people hold when they are avoiding uncomfortable realities.

“Her husband had made it clear that he wanted a big family. He wanted lots and lots of kids to inoculate himself against loss, and Claire had tried and tried with him until finally she had agreed to go see a fertility expert who had informed Claire that she couldn’t have children because she had an IUD and was taking birth control pills.”

This quote reveals exactly how sneaky Claire can sometimes be, especially when she is up against the wall that is Paul’s unflinching resolve to commit to something he wants. They are on very separate pages, and neither is vulnerable nor conciliatory enough to talk about a compromise.