A Flicker in the Dark

The opening paragraphs of Chapter 48 describe the beautiful weather and the importance of what would have been Chloe and Daniel’s wedding day. Willingham misleads the reader to believe that Chloe’s story ends with her marriage to Daniel. However, rather than relying on a marriage to symbolize a new chapter in Chloe’s life and her healing from the horrific events of the novel, Willingham focuses on Chloe’s individual development separate from a male partner, supporting the theme of Women’s Empowerment. Daniel does not appear aside from his voice calling from another room. Instead, Chloe meets Daniel’s sister Sophie for the first time and returns her wedding ring to her. A family heirloom, Sophie’s wedding ring symbolizes the traditional path toward stability that Chloe previously sought out earlier in the novel. Desperate to attain a sense of stability, she maintained a façade of satisfaction to justify her decision to marry Daniel despite their lack of true intimacy. By returning Sophie’s ring, Chloe abandons this traditional path and maintains a dedication to her own journey of healing.

Sophie reminds Chloe of Lena and the other women Cooper murdered. Unlike Chloe, Sophie escaped unscathed from her turbulent childhood due to her brother’s commitment and sacrifice. As a pawn in Cooper’s game, Chloe suffered because of her brother’s horrific choices from childhood into adulthood and confirms The Effects of the Past on the Present. A success story, Sophie leads Chloe to wonder “what Lena would have looked like if she had been given the opportunity to grow up” (350). Chloe notes the “undeniably lived-in” quality of Sophie’s home (350). Unlike Chloe’s home, Sophie’s home represents the soul of its owners and exudes a warmth that Chloe admires. Willingham positions Sophie and Chloe as foils to one another. Sophie confesses to Chloe that she insisted Daniel propose to her using their family ring. Despite their similarities as sisters to brothers and survivors of trauma, Sophie’s assertiveness and freedom contrasts Chloe’s avoidance and reticence.

When Sophie asks Chloe about her father’s release from prison, Chloe reflects on how she served as instigator for both her father’s imprisonment and his freedom. Through this conversation with Sophie, Willingham answers the reader’s questions about the fate of Chloe and Daniel’s relationship and her father’s imprisonment. Through her description of Chloe’s father, Willingham symbolizes the trauma that changed the Davis family irrevocably. Chloe describes a scar on her father’s nose from his glasses “cracking as his head slammed into the cruiser” (352). The scars he displays serve as the physical embodiment of the trauma their family has experienced for 20 years.

Chloe admits to Sophie that she is ambivalent about her father’s actions. Angry over how her father’s sacrifice for Cooper resulted in the deaths of Aubrey and Lacey, Chloe also understands her parents’ desire to protect her brother. Willingham poses the rhetorical question to the reader through her use of second person. Through Chloe, she asks the reader, “What if your child was the darkness? Wouldn’t you want to protect them, too?” (353). Despite her anger, Chloe empathizes with her parents and attributes their choices to a desire for control. No longer in denial, Chloe admits “I’m guilty of it, too” and alludes to her use of prescription medications to control her emotions (353). She even references her understanding of Cooper’s misguided, horrific actions by admitting that drugging Cooper and taking control of him “felt good” (353). However, unlike Cooper, Chloe refers to this moment as “a flicker in the dark” that passes quickly (353). Unlike Cooper, Chloe chooses to release control.

Willingham symbolizes this release of control through her portrayal of Chloe’s final act. While leaving Sophie’s home, Chloe retrieves a firefly and cups it in her hands. A reminder of Lena, the firefly represents the trauma Chloe has faced and the various attempts to control her emotions that led her to numb herself, illustrating the negative effects of Control as a Coping Mechanism. Rather than ignoring these reminders of her past, Chloe gently holds the firefly in her hands and confronts this symbol of her trauma. Unlike Cooper, she does not destroy or kill the firefly to exert control over it. Instead, Chloe chooses to “open my hands and set her free” (354). Willingham chooses to assign female characteristics to the firefly as she employs the use of feminine pronouns. The firefly represents the various women in the novel who seek freedom from male violence and instilled trauma. Like the firefly, Chloe chooses to live a life of freedom and independence.