62 pages • 2 hours read
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes descriptions of anti-gay bias, racism, ableism, misogyny, kidnapping, imprisonment, rape, sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, and suicide. The illegal incineration of a corpse and drowning of a child are also described.
Sally lives with her father, Thomas Diamond, in a secluded area outside a small Irish village named Carricksheedy. No one has come to visit ever since the death of her mother, Jean, a couple of years ago. Thomas has been suffering from a prolonged decline in health. As a former psychiatrist, he insists that he not be buried and jokingly suggests that Sally simply take his body out with the trash. Sally does not understand that her father is joking, so when he dies, she attempts to honor what she believes to be his last wishes by burning his body in the trash incinerator. Sally has the same indifferent attitude toward corpses that her father had, viewing a dead body as no more than skin and bones and feeling no need for a funeral.
As a recluse, Sally prefers watching television shows to dealing with real people. School was always difficult for Sally, and when Sally’s school diagnosed her with autism, her father rejected this idea.
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