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Appearing in the novel alongside the second generation of Trasks, Abra Bacon brings love and compassion into a family fraught with tension. Aron and Cal first meet Abra when she and her parents arrive seeking shelter from a rainstorm, and from this moment on, she becomes increasingly intwined in the Trask’s journey. Her personal background makes her a particularly apt companion for the boys as she knows too well the loneliness that they feel. Similarly to the distance between Adam and his sons, Abra’s parents show very little affection toward her. Abra, who already behaves like an adult as a young girl, allows his commonality to inform the way she initially treats the Trask boys. She pretends to mother them, and her kindness quickly captures Aron’s heart. Once the Trasks move to Abra’s hometown of Salinas, their relationship develops even further as they imagine their future together as a married couple. Abra comes to represent safety and stability for Aron, two things which he desperately clings to as the Trasks’ reputation declines and rumors begin to swirl.
As loyal as Abra is to Aron, changes in his behavior begin to drive her closer to other members of the Trask household, and she eventually plays a pivotal role in helping Cal seek forgiveness from his father. Between Aron’s growing involvement in the church and his departure for college, he no longer puts effort into maintaining a meaningful, mutual relationship with Abra. She is the first to admit that the girl he claims to love is an idealization that he has crafted in his own mind. Her capacity to recognize the inauthenticity of their relationship highlights her keen perceptive abilities, a quality that Aron does not share. Comfortable with the fact that she is not the perfect girl that Aron worships, Abra begins to bond with Cal over their deeply flawed families. Her father’s cruelty and corruption give her yet another point of commonality with the Trasks, and her self-assurance offers a model for the Trasks to cope with Cathy’s brutal legacy. This dynamic is what makes Abra and Cal’s relationship one of the most consequential of the entire novel. Without Abra’s encouragement, Cal would not have returned home to make peace with Adam before he died. She and Lee, who comes to serve as a stand-in father figure for her, make the novel’s resolution possible.
