Rock Paper Scissors

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-15

Chapters 16-30

Chapters 31-45

Chapters 46-61

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Book Club Questions

Literary Devices

Shifting Tense and Shifting Point of View

Chapters titled “Amelia” or “Adam” are in first person, present tense, so the narrator relates events as they occur. Few novels, all or in part, use present tense. Feeney does this for a couple of reasons. First, present tense best conveys the anxiety and immediacy of a crisis. This device invites a feeling of being part of what’s happening. Second, since Feeney switches narrators, writing in the present tense demands less need to provide context. In describing events, the narrative moves from one narrator’s point of view (POV) to another’s.

Feeney shifts from the present tense in chapters titled for annual love letters—such as “Rock” or “Paper.” In these chapters, Feeney uses the first person POV but in the past tense, a more common usage. Feeney breaks from the first person POV in chapters titled “Robin,” which she writes in third person, present tense. The last chapter, titled “Sam,” uses third person, past tense. This seemingly random jumble of viewpoints and tenses helps the author set up the surprising twist that is her hallmark.

Most authors who use a first person POV do so throughout the narrative. The narrator is either the protagonist or tells the protagonist’s story. Shifting first person narrators creates ambiguity about the protagonist’s identity and makes it difficult to emotionally attach to the narrator. This is especially true in Rock Paper Scissors because the first person narrators are at odds with one another. This confusion enables Feeney to use the annual love letters to build empathy for Adam’s wife as her devotion, sacrifices, and failed pregnancy become known. The natural assumption is that these letters are from Amelia. Because the author introduces Robin well into the narrative and uses a third person POV in chapters devoted to her, it’s unclear that Robin is the author of the anniversary letters.

Clever Word Play and Proverbs

Feeney engages in word play throughout the novel. One of the most obvious examples of this is the “word of the year” at the beginning of each anniversary letter. Those words, typically little known, foreshadow the tone and events that each letter will contain. For example, in Chapter 59, Robin uses the German word schadenfreude, which refers to one person taking pleasure in another’s bad luck. Robin writes the letter with an eerily blissful mood, since the world of her rival—along with her rival—disappeared altogether.

Beyond these obvious instances of word play, Feeney engages in other striking word uses. For instance, the last name of the screenwriter and two of the other main characters, “Wright,” is a quadruple pun. Wright refers to Adam as a writer; it plays upon the conflict of the two wives—which Mrs. Wright is right; it’s a verb meaning to correct, as in “set things right”; and in its ancient usage, it would refer to a literary project like a book or screenplay.

Additionally, throughout the narrative, Feeney has different characters express truly insightful wisdom through proverbial sayings. The author often does this ironically in that the least literate of all the characters is Amelia, yet she often offers keen observations. For instance, Amelia says: “Memories are shape-shifters and dreams are not bound by truth, which is why I write everything he chooses to remember down. I want to fix him. And I want him to love me for it. But not everything that gets broken can be repaired” (105).

Cliff-Hangers

Before becoming an author of thrillers, Feeney wrote for television news and serials. Each installment of a continuing series must have some ongoing dilemma to engage viewers and prompt them to tune in for the next episode. Brief lead-ins also hook the viewers’ attention. Feeney uses a process akin to this throughout the narrative in the form of regular cliff-hangers. Typically, Feeney sandwiches an unrelated chapter, such as an anniversary letter or a description of Robin’s activities, between the cliff-hanger and its resolution.

For example, in Chapter 15, Amelia descends into the wine crypt. The power goes out, and the door to the crypt slams shut, leaving her trapped. Feeney breaks from Amelia in Chapter 16 to talk about Robin’s most recent trip for groceries before letting Amelia out of the crypt in Chapter 17. Feeney uses this technique to engage and focus attention, to build tension, and to convey the notion that Blackwater Chapel is a treacherous place.

Parallelism

While Feeney depicts the characters as being quite different from one another, she also describes the many similarities between them. This parallelism heightens the distinctiveness of each character by demonstrating how each, arising from a similar background, developed differently.

The most obvious example of this is the parallel backgrounds of Robin and Amelia. Both animal lovers who ran away from unaccepting homes as youths, they’re devoid of friends and loved ones. Each depends on Adam’s affection and social network. Each is ruthless, calculating, and bent on self-preservation and self-advancement.

Beyond this, the characters have many qualities in common with one another. As mentioned earlier, all are isolated. Adam, Amelia, and Robin each lost their mother tragically at an early age. Each of them carries secrets with the potential to end relationships and even send them to jail.