The Girl Before

The shifting structure of the narrative in The Girl Before causes a repetition of plot points and imagery. The mirroring experience is heightened by references to repeated actions, behaviors, and objects. In addition, Delaney frames the novel with four epigraphs, each of which references repetition, from lovers who “always repeat themselves” to signature killers who engage “in repetitive behavior” to “letting images repeat and repeat” (1). In conjunction with the plot, these epigraphs create the sense that the novel intentionally builds using repetitive imagery and behaviors in order to reach a larger emotional conclusion.

Delaney’s use of a therapist to reveal other key aspects of the plot develops the sense that psychoanalysis can help humans understand why people behave the way they do. Carol’s frequent diagnoses, whether of Edward’s narcissism or Emma’s pseudologia fantasia, suggest that psychotherapists are capable of understanding our behaviors and analyzing them successfully. That said, Carol is also wrong about Edward’s behaviors, implying that it is only with honest, appropriate information that psychoanalysis is effective.

By structuring the novel so that interactions and images repeat over and over, Delaney builds suspense and changes how characters are perceived.