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She thinks I’m insane. It’s become a familiar feeling.
This quote from Chapter Forty-Nine reveals how Nina is perceived by others, particularly Millie, as "insane." The line “It’s become a familiar feeling” highlights Nina’s awareness of how she is constantly misunderstood and dismissed, reinforcing the idea that others only see her behavior from a limited, surface-level perspective. Millie, along with others, initially judges Nina as unstable or irrational without understanding the deeper context of her trauma and abuse. This quote encapsulates how the novel explores the limitations of perspective—characters make assumptions about one another based on incomplete or distorted information. The reader, too, shares this limited view until Nina’s perspective is fully revealed. This line exemplifies how outward appearances can obscure the complex realities of abuse and manipulation that are hidden beneath the surface.
"Mama, up!" She raises her arms to me until I gather her up. She's wearing a frilly white dress that is a bit preposterous for such a little girl playing in the living room—Evelyn must have dressed her in it.
This quote from Chapter Forty-Four highlights the theme of the limits of perspective by revealing how Nina, despite outward appearances, is not responsible for many of the things Millie initially assumes about her. Millie had believed that Nina forced her daughter Cece to wear the “frilly white dresses,” associating them with Nina’s supposed obsession with status and control. However, this moment reveals that it is actually Evelyn, Andrew’s mother, who insists on these impractical clothes, and by extension, Andrew himself, who maintains this controlling influence over Cece. When the reader discovers that Nina actively dislikes the dress, it shifts the reader’s understanding of Nina. What Millie and others interpreted as Nina’s vanity or cruelty is, in fact, a reflection of Andrew’s manipulative control over every detail of their lives.
Nobody ever understood. After I got in trouble for slashing Mr. Cavanaugh's tires, I tried to explain to my mother how he had told me I was going to fail math class unless I let him feel me up. She didn't believe me. Nobody believed me.
This quote from Chapter Fifty-Five shows that Millie’s history of violence was severely misunderstood, as the context of her actions was never believed or acknowledged. Millie's attempt to explain to her mother that her math teacher sexually harassed her was dismissed, reinforcing a recurring pattern of disbelief and isolation in her life. Millie's desperate retaliation, slashing his tires, is judged as an irrational act of aggression rather than a response to abuse, highlighting how victims of harassment are often discredited or ignored. The quote underscores how Millie has been trapped in a cycle where her side of the story is never given credence, further isolating her and painting her as the problem. It demonstrates the consequences of narrow perspectives, as those around her fail to grasp the abuse she endures, leaving her to face the fallout alone.
