The Cellar

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses abuse; rape, sexual exploitation, and sexual assault; death by suicide; abduction; and graphic violence.

The fight to maintain her identity is at the heart of Summer’s internal conflict. She struggles under the burden of the name Clover gives her; she eventually finds thoughts of her friends and family, key parts of her former identity, difficult to bear, and she has trouble reconciling the two parts of her identity once she leaves the cellar. Summer’s reactions demonstrate the impact of the manipulation of identity as she resists the erasure of self.

Even before he forces her into the van in Chapter 1, Clover renames Summer “Lily.” Throughout literature, names are associated with power; for example, revealing one’s name may weaken the advantage one has over others; in the action of naming, the “namer” typically has authority over the “namee.” The other Flowers tell Summer to forget her given name and accept “Lily.” The deeper insinuation is that Summer must also forget her identity and craft a new one that appeases Clover. Summer initially resists this renaming, stubbornly correctly the other Flowers each time they say “Lily”; eventually, though, Summer begins to think of herself as Lily, even correcting the doctor who calls her “Summer” once she is rescued.