Key Themes

Question 1

Trauma, Survival and Reckoning with the past

Answer 1

Multiple characters carry memories from traumatic events and are coming to terms with how their pasts impacts their relationships in the present, Atkinson argues trauma can shape people in ways both dangerous and heroic, and that sometimes there isn’t a clear line between danger and heroism in people’s resulting actions.

Question 2

Appearances Vs. Reality

Answer 2

Many characters are misfits in their surroundings, forging unlikely personal ties to find meaning. Characters embodying unusual contrasts - Joanna’s underworld ties amidst middle class gentility. Signalling unresolved tension in their lives, Atkinson suggests people are rarely what they seem, and outer appearances mask a more complicated, even ominous reality.

Question 3

Lies and Deception

Answer 3

Character’s relationships are marked by dishonesty, lies and deception. Aktinson argues that people tend to construct reality - representation of their own stories - in the ways they imagine best promote their interests.

Question 4

Family

Answer 4

All major characters have suffered major dysfunction in their home lives - often involving traumatic death. Reggie, Jackson, Joanna all long to have their families back together and each do this through the means available to them.