Themes:
Fear
- In the novel fear is a common trait among the characters.
- David Henry fears that if he makes the wrong decision, his family will be torn and filled with sorrow.
- Caroline fears that Phoebe will not be given the chance to have a proper education. She also worries that David will come to claim Phoebe.
- Paul's fear is that his father will not accept what he wants to do with his life.
- Fear consumes these characters so much that they do not have good judgement. This leads to bad decisions that haunt them for the rest of their life.
Deceit
- Deceit is something that is hard to break from once you are tangled up in its web.
- David Henry kicks off the entanglement of lies in the beginning of the book.
- Once he utters the first lie, he is in a small bind. The problem will grow the more he lets it go on.
- People around him begin to to lie to him. They become numb to him and everything else around them
- It is like a domino effect. Once the first stone is knocked over, they all begin to fall.
Developmentally Disabled Children
- Children with a learning disability are often looked down upon because it is harder for them to reach average expectations.
- Caroline takes on the responsibility of Phoebe, a little girl with Down's Syndrome.
- She has to fight the school board to even allow children like Phoebe to be enrolled in a normal school.
- The school system would rather keep them in a designated building where there is no real a learning environment.
- Caroline and some other women she develops a friendship with vividly believe that their children have the right to learn without set expectations.