A Flicker in the Dark

Introduced in the Prologue, the image of Chloe running to her father from the school bus repeats throughout the novel. As Chloe moves into adulthood, she returns to this memory as a representation of her father’s love and protection. She describes the fear that would compel her to run toward her father whose embrace at the end of the road would cause her heart “to crash hard against my chest as a single word formed in my mind: safety” (2). This motif of Chloe finding protection and safety in her father’s arms represents Chloe’s search for safety throughout the novel. Confused by her feelings of safety around her father and the reality of his accused crimes, Chloe struggles to reconcile the two versions of her father presented to her. She questions what happens when “the outstretched arms you collapse into on your porch steps are the same arms you should be running from?” (20). This question haunts Chloe throughout the novel as she begins her journey into the past. The act of running depicts the urgency and desperation that characterizes many of Chloe’s actions as she attempts to merge her past and her present. Generally, fathers traditionally represent strength and protection. As the novel progresses, Chloe attempts to find this protection in various male figures around her, including her brother Cooper Davis and Daniel Briggs and Aaron Jansen. Ultimately, Chloe forces herself to take action to protect herself by traveling to Breaux Bridge to rescue Riley and confronting Cooper about his crimes. By the end of the novel, she no longer relies on this motif to find peace and solace but discovers that safety within herself.