61 pages • 2 hours read
The Deal
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Themes
The Impact of Past Trauma on Daily Life
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of rape, child abuse, and physical abuse.
Throughout the narrative, both Garrett and Hannah face and overcome some of the past trauma that they have been carrying from their respective childhood and adolescence. For Garrett, being the son of Phil Graham—a hockey legend who is publicly admired by everyone, including Garrett’s own teammates—is more of a curse than a blessing. Garrett alone carries the dark secret of his father’s physical abuse and worries that Phil’s abusive tendencies will also surface in his own behavior; the prospect of becoming like his father is therefore his greatest fear. For Hannah, the sexual assault that she survived has created deep yet invisible scars that continue to haunt her everyday life, and it is only with Garrett’s support and empathy that she learns to overcome these challenges. Ultimately, both characters experience uniquely healing and transformative journeys that are made possible by their mutual support and understanding for one another.
Unlike Hannah’s inhibitions, Garrett’s past experience with abuse has left him with few issues in his own daily activities, but he does have a complicated relationship with hockey thanks to Phil’s history of violence, and he also fears his own potential to become like his father someday. This unprocessed issue prompts him to internalize his past trauma, and this dynamic rises to the surface when he becomes violent with another hockey player due to his dark past with Phil. Later, when Hannah succumbs to Phil’s blackmail and ends her relationship with Garrett, Garrett immediately assumes that she is responding negatively to the violence he displayed in her defense at the game. In this moment, it is clear that he is so worried about becoming like his father that he overlooks all the evidence to the contrary and begins to believe the worst about himself. However, he soon realizes that he could never abuse anyone like his father abused him and his mother. Over time, his anxiety is alleviated, and by cutting his father off completely, he progresses in his path toward healing.
Just as Garrett must confront the ghosts of his past, Hannah must also contend with the fact that her social life suffers drastically because of her past experience with rape. To avoid situations that may render her vulnerable, she declines party invitations and refrains from drinking because she is afraid that someone else might take the opportunity to drug and abuse her. These fears also cause her to avoid achieving true intimacy with her romantic partners. She has made progress through therapy, noting, “I try so hard not to let it control my life. […] I know it wasn’t my fault. I know I didn’t ask for it or do something to invite it” (23). However, although she intellectually understands these things, Hannah still has a long road to travel if she wishes to truly heal her deeper emotional wounds. Her best friend, Allie, makes concessions to look after Hannah in public spaces, promising sobriety and abandoning her boyfriend to keep Hannah company in stress-inducing atmospheres. Through Allie’s support and the trusting relationship that Hannah forms with Garrett, Hannah takes baby steps toward facing and overcoming the internal challenges that are preventing her from living a more fulfilling life.
The Importance of Reclaiming Confidence and Personal Power
Reclaiming power after assault becomes a key theme throughout the novel, and each character’s journey of reclaiming power highlights different aspects of trauma recovery and the difficult process of regaining control in areas that were once overshadowed by past trauma and abuse. For Hannah, the most challenging aspect of reclaiming her power comes when she struggles to reassert her bodily autonomy and find genuine pleasure in her intimate relationships. After experiencing the trauma of rape, which remains a pervasive shadow over her life, Hannah initially struggles with trusting others. Although her relationship with Garrett becomes an essential part of her healing process, this new connection is also marked by moments in which she must confront her vulnerabilities and fears. In particular, her sexual relationship with Garrett becomes an act of empowerment, allowing her to reclaim her right to pleasure and intimacy.
Prior to this transformative relationship, Hannah views herself as broken, admitting that it has taken her “years of therapy” to “try [her] hand at the whole sex thing,” and even then, “it certainly didn’t work out the way [she] wanted” (83). After a failed series of sexual interludes that were “awkward and lacking passion” (83), she now despairs of ever regaining the ability to be fully vulnerable with a sexual partner. As she struggles to connect with sex in the way she believes a “normal woman” should, this emotional roadblock hinders her current relationships. However, with Garrett, Hannah finally proves that she can navigate relationships on her own terms. This breakthrough affirms her sense of agency and reinforces her ability to set emotional and physical boundaries. In these ways, she finally succeeds in reclaiming her personal power, and she becomes an active agent in her own healing journey.
Garrett’s journey of reclaiming power lies in redefining his relationship with hockey and distancing himself from his father’s control. Having grown up in his father’s shadow, Garrett feels that his identity has been deeply shaped by Phil’s expectations. Hockey is a game that Garrett deeply enjoys, and it also serves as a healthy emotional outlet for his anger and frustration. However, the positive impact that the game brings to his life is also tainted by his father’s unavoidable presence. The turning point in Garrett’s journey occurs when he confides in Hannah, revealing that although he believed himself to be healed from his father’s traumatic abuse, he now realizes that he holds far deeper, internalized issues.
When Garrett tells his teammates and coach about his father’s abusive nature, this confession liberates him from the weight of secrecy and creates distance between his own hockey career and that of his father. After learning the truth, his teammates and coach no longer give Phil any attention at games, and this shift transforms the hockey world into something that is truly Garrett’s own—a passion that he can now enjoy without the burden of his father’s oppressive expectations. The theme of reclaiming personal power is therefore woven into the fabric of the novel, with both protagonists finding different ways to take control of their lives. In the end, The Deal illustrates the arduous but ultimately empowering journey of overcoming trauma and finding empowerment during the recovery journey.
The Systemic Issues Surrounding Abuse
Through the experiences that Hannah and Garrett have faced, Kennedy highlights the systemic issues surrounding the treatment of rape and abuse within the legal system. She also engineers her protagonists’ experiences in a way that allows her to critique and condemn the cultural permissiveness that results in miscarriages of justice, skepticism toward survivors, and inadequate support in assault cases. Likewise, Kennedy also uses Hannah’s fraught experience with the legal system to suggest that for sexual assault cases in particular, biased interpretations of consent result in a high attrition rate and prevent many cases from reaching the prosecution stage. By imbuing an otherwise escapist romance plotline with serious issues, Kennedy works to elevate the tone of the new adult genre as a whole and address serious societal issues.
Hannah’s experience with sexual assault and the subsequent legal processes provides a vivid exploration of these systemic issues. After being raped by a classmate in high school, Hannah was forced to navigate an ineffectual legal system that did little to support her. The investigation and trial were filled with biases, and the legal system questioned her actions and character rather than focusing on the perpetrator’s crime. As a result, Hannah felt further victimized by the very system that should have been advocating for her. By dramatizing this scenario, Kennedy highlights the myriad emotional issues that survivors of abuse must contend with, and Garrett’s protective reactions to Hannah’s troubles validate Hannah’s own unprocessed outrage over the injustices that she has endured at the hands of her attacker and the legal system itself.
For Hannah’s parents, the aftermath of the rape and the trial has been equally devastating, as the unfair outcome of the trial ensured that they were essentially punished for coming to their daughter’s defense. Rather than seeing justice done, they were forced to pay for her attacker’s extensive legal bills and have had to endure lasting social ostracism in their broader community. Lacking the finances to escape their now-hostile home town, they have no recourse in the face of these combined injustices, and Hannah finds herself burdened by financial pressures and internalized guilt as she witnesses her parents’ added stress and difficulties. As she explains, although her parents “stood by [her] through the most horrific experience of [her] life,” they are “now stuck in a place where everyone despises them” (80). The fact that she sees this situation as her fault demonstrates that the phenomenon of “victim blaming” can also become internalized.
Similarly, Garrett and his mother’s past experience with domestic violence at Phil’s hands introduces another layer to the theme of systemic failure. After surviving a childhood at the mercy of his abusive father, Garrett finds his trauma compounded by the fact that his father has never faced real accountability. Despite the man’s ongoing abusive behavior toward Cindy, Phil relies on his wealth, fame, and social influence to evade all responsibility for his actions. Because he keeps his abusive side well hidden, he benefits from the ongoing admiration of hockey fans who don’t know his true nature. This dynamic is designed to illustrate the fact that many abusers in positions of power or influence often evade justice. Garrett’s silence on the matter likewise highlights the broader challenge of speaking up and breaking cycles of abuse.
As they work to heal their past issues, Hannah and Garrett undergo new struggles that underscore the widespread damage of these systemic issues. The narrative also shows that these systemic shortcomings extend beyond the individuals involved to devastate whole families and communities. By dramatizing these experiences, Kennedy seeks to shed light on the urgency of reforming society’s current attitudes toward cases of abuse.
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