Does It Hurt?

Enzo Vitale is a marine biologist whose work focuses on sharks. He explains how he initially studied sharks because he wanted to be one, wishing to be strong, independent, and dangerous when necessary. However, Enzo only has the demeanor of a shark, as he continuously scowls and growls at and around Sawyer, a defense mechanism he uses against possible betrayal. In Enzo’s backstory, he explains how his mother abandoned him, leaving him to be raised by nuns. Enzo associates his developmental years as emblematic of his need for independence, betrayed by his mother and resentful of the nuns. In adulthood, Enzo struggles to adapt to situations in which people try to help and love him, including his best friend, Troy, and his enemy-turned-lover, Sawyer.

Enzo is the deuteragonist of the novel, having fewer chapter sections dedicated to his perspective than Sawyer in Carlton’s “duet” structure. Though he is not the focus of the novel, his character is critical to Sawyer’s development, much as Sawyer is critical to his own. Like Sawyer, Enzo begins the novel with a barrier around himself, preventing him from forging connections with others. By the end of the novel, he successfully bonds with Sawyer, reflecting on his growth throughout their relationship. However, Enzo’s growth is challenging to measure, as—unlike Sawyer—Enzo frequently relents on his push toward mutual respect and love with Sawyer. Sawyer may periodically try to push Enzo away, but Enzo mixes his communication of love and resentment, making it difficult for Sawyer to tell what he is feeling. This pattern is encapsulated in the Italian monologue Enzo gives Sawyer, in which he confesses his full feelings in a language his audience cannot understand. Even though he is telling Sawyer how he feels, he is protected by the language barrier, much as his barrier of stoicism and grouchiness protects him prior to the events of the novel.

One of Enzo’s defining characteristics is jealousy of other men—also typical of Carlton’s masculine characters—and shown in his immediate distaste for Sylvester and his desire to kill Kevin. In effect, Enzo’s jealousy is another means to protect himself against betrayal, as killing any other man who might give Sawyer an opportunity to betray him will prevent that possible betrayal. In the end, this layer of Enzo’s defenses is still dominant, as he considers killing Troy for looking at Sawyer.

Sylvester is the antagonist of the novel, and he fulfills a kind of “mad scientist” villain role in the narrative. Sylvester came to Raven’s Isle in 1978, and he continued to live and work on the island after it was decommissioned. He had a wife, Raven, and two daughters, Trinity and Kacey, but his family wanted to leave the lighthouse before it became decommissioned. Sylvester, like Enzo and Sawyer, is entrenched in the life he has led since 1978, and he is unwilling to leave the lighthouse. This parallels how Sawyer struggles to stop running from her feelings and Enzo struggles to accept another person into his life. However, unlike Sawyer and Enzo, Sylvester copes with his life on Raven’s Isle by forcing others to stay on the island with him. The way Sylvester keeps Kacey on the island through amateur surgery lends to his “mad scientist” persona, and the implication of sexual assault ties Sylvester to the overarching struggle Sawyer experiences in the novel.

Sylvester is initially innocuous, though strange, assigning Enzo and Sawyer a bedtime and asking Sawyer to sit with him and allow him to touch her. Though Enzo promptly sees these actions as warnings of Sylvester’s true nature, Sawyer tries to hold on to the possibility that Sylvester is simply a lonely older man. In the end, Enzo’s worst suspicions come true, and Sylvester becomes another iteration of Kevin for Sawyer, engaging in sexual abuse and kidnapping. These crimes lend to an interpretation of Sylvester as representative of how isolation within rape culture leads to broader atrocities, as Sylvester operates without any oversight from the law. Totally unrestrained by society, Sylvester kills his wife and imprisons his daughter, leading him to continue killing anyone who comes to his island. The mass grave in his basement reveals that—like Enzo and Sawyer—many people have come to the island, underestimated Sylvester, and suffered a terrible fate at his hands.

Though Kevin is only present as a voice in Sawyer’s head, or in the flashback to six years prior to the events of the novel, he is the secondary antagonist of the novel. He is the model by which Enzo and Sylvester are judged, in Sawyer’s mind, as either a lover or a villain. Kevin is Sawyer’s twin brother, and he sexually abused and manipulated Sawyer from adolescence through to adulthood, cutting her off from friends and family. Though Sawyer attempted to speak out against Kevin, no one believed her, relying instead on Kevin’s demeanor of kindness and perfection. Following their parents’ deaths, Kevin became a police officer, and Sawyer implies that Kevin allowed his friends on the police force to abuse Sawyer as well. Kevin’s control over Sawyer leads her to see herself as “unforgivable” as she battles the guilt of killing her brother, as well as the internalized, misogynistic view of herself as a “slut” after Kevin’s abuse.

Kevin’s decision to become a police officer reflects his character’s desire for power, and it also impacts Sawyer’s view of the world and authority. Police officers are meant to maintain peace, help those in need, and capture those who break the law. However, for Sawyer, the police subvert all these goals—capturing her without cause, abusing her for her vulnerability, and thrusting her life into chaos. As the novel progresses, Sawyer frequently expresses a desire for stability—which is thwarted by her memories of Kevin—and this desire is complicated by her fear and distrust of authority, which she sees as inherently exploitative.