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“That seems like something a person should know about themselves," she says.
In “Sorry We’re Open,” Bailey processes her father’s lies as she wonders about their implications for her sense of self. The realization that she does not know her name or birthday wounds her deeply. The quiet anguish of this statement, especially when compared to her angry outbursts elsewhere in the novel, captures the crisis Bailey navigates throughout the book. Hannah believes that Owen may have told lies about himself to protect his daughter, but for Bailey, the lies upset her entire existence because they reveal that her father did not trust her. As Hannah notes elsewhere, Bailey was the driving force in her father’s life. She dictated how they spent their days and the dynamics in the home. Owen’s life always appeared to revolve around Bailey. The realization that secrets and lies underwrote this relationship leaves Bailey questioning everything she thinks she knows and whether he was as benevolent and loving as he appeared. Though Bailey and Hannah experience similar identity crises in the book, Bailey suffers a more acute one, which she articulates here
“Bailey, I know this feels impossible," I say. "But you are you. Whatever details are around that, whatever your father didn’t tell you, that doesn’t change who you are. Not at your core."
In “Sorry We’re Open,” Hannah argues for an idea of identity that transcends superficial details. For Hannah, what makes Bailey quintessentially herself is not her name or date of birth but instead her personality. This perception of an integral self, separate from basic facts, ties in with the novel’s fluid perceptions of truth, knowledge, and memory. Bailey clings to a narrower view of what constitutes identity, while Hannah sees the issue through a more dynamic lens. In Hannah’s viewpoint, it does not matter whether Bailey is technically Bailey Michaels. That is the reality Bailey knows, and nothing can take that away from her. Nonetheless, Bailey’s profound identity crisis motivates Hannah’s ultimate decision to reject Grady’s offer of witness protection to ensure that Bailey can continue living as Bailey Michaels rather than adopting a new identity. Hannah realizes that true safety for Bailey is inherent in the young woman’s ability to continue being herself in peace.
I don’t know how to argue with Nicholas about any of this. This is how he sees himself, as a family man, as a wronged man. And he sees Owen as the man who wronged him, which makes Owen just as guilty as he is. I can’t argue with something so intrinsic to his understanding of himself.
Hannah has this reaction to Nicholas’s version of events in “You Have to Do Some Things on Your Own.” His vehement insistence on his account of the past and himself in this chapter contrasts sharply with Hannah’s introspective reflections throughout the book. His rigid thinking about who he is and the facts in the case also mirror his granddaughter Bailey’s approach to identity as she struggles with her father’s lies. Bailey’s identity crisis ultimately depicts what Nicholas’s commitment to his version of events is trying to prevent. His reality will fall apart if he allows himself to think too much about his past actions. Hannah ultimately finds her own perceptions of Owen vindicated, but she also proves open-minded enough to constantly evaluate and question what she actually thinks and knows. Nicholas, despite being highly intelligent, cannot demonstrate that level of personal insight and thus remains in denial. His intransigence momentarily stumps Hannah, but her flexibility helps her read Nicholas far better than he reads her.
