The Couple Next Door

Cora symbolizes all of the moral failings of the adults around her. Save for a passing moment when a distraught and guilt-stricken Anne recalls Cora’s curl of hair on her forehead, the novel offers no actual physical description of the baby. She is what she eats or will not eat, she is how often she cries, and she is the onesies that she wears; Thus, she is objectified.

For all Marco’s protestations that he just wants the daughter he loves back, she is an opportunity to restart his business. For Alice, the fussy baby is a constant reminder of how much she disapproved of Anne’s marriage and how little she has taken to being a grandmother. For Cynthia, Cora represents everything that she despises: motherhood, sacrifice, maternal bonding. For Rasbach, Cora is a disturbing puzzle, a riddle he must solve, the reward for diligent investigation. For Anne, Cora represents her anxiety about motherhood. She cannot find a way to bond with the baby and so the baby remains for her a constant reminder of her socially perceived failure. For Bruce Neeland, who carries the baby off the night of the kidnapping, Cora is merely cargo, a kind of contraband he must direct.