76 pages • 2-hour read
All The Lovely Bad Ones
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Symbols & Motifs
Mental Health
Mental health is a motif that appears numerous times throughout the novel. Different characters levy “crazy” as an insult against those with whom they do not agree. Grandmother, for example, uses synonymous terms to describe Miss Duvall and Chester, saying, “Not with that lunatic and her crazy companion out of the picture” (91). These names are harmful to the people they are being used against and to people who do suffer from mental health problems. Hahn hints lightly at the possible harm that can be caused at the use of such words through Travis’s treatment of his sister. Travis has no qualms thinking of Corey, “Psycho was more like it, but why spoil things with the truth?” (27). After Chester claims that Corey “is disturbed,” Corey becomes extremely upset by the implication (65). Despite how upset she is, Travis tells her, “Of course you’re disturbed, I’ve known that since the day Mom brought you home from the loony bin” (65). Corey ends up storming off, her feelings hurt by both Travis and Chester. Despite Grandmother’s subsequent telling-off of Travis, she is just as guilty of levying mental health as an insult toward others.
The novel contends with topics around chosen and coerced suicide. Through Miss Ada’s spectral presence, the children are overcome with feelings of worthlessness, regret, and guilt. Miss Ada’s specter and the negative emotions that she summons could symbolize depression. Miss Ada’s own depression and feelings of powerlessness when her brother abandoned her leads her to take her own life. In the present, she instills within others the same emotions that she felt in her last moments. When Miss Ada compels Travis to kill himself, he “saw my failures, my sorrows, my tears. I saw myself as Miss Ada wanted me to—a loathsome boy, despicable, unloved, pitiful and weak, stupid and selfish” (183). Different mental health conditions can compel people to see only the worst parts of themselves. Mental health in the text is thus represented in a myriad of ways as inappropriate insults and conditions that can lead to one’s death. These vastly different representations of the same motifs should lead readers to question why the characters choose to use those insults as opposed to others.
Seeing
Seeing as a motif repeats multiple times throughout the text. The ability to see in literature can often mean something more than seeing that which is available. Seeing can symbolize a character’s ability to comprehend that which they have previously been ignorant of. One such example is Grandmother’s inability to see the ghosts of the children in and around the inn. Despite owning the inn for years, Grandmother’s own skepticism and logical nature kept her from believing in the supernatural, and thus from seeing the ghosts that haunt the grounds. Seth tells Grandmother, “You can see me now. […] That’s ‘cause you believe in me. […] I had to scare you into it, but you was a hard nut to crack” (149). To force another person to see something that they do not wish to is a near impossible task. Grandmother, able and, eventually, willing can admit to her own biases. Confronted with the truth, Grandmother ultimately admits to being wrong. She changes her worldview, despite the pain it causes her.
Miss Ada, on the other hand, is unwilling and unable to change the way that she views the world. Miss Ada villainizes the children so that she can forgive her own actions. She tells the ghost children, “I told you, I have nothing to be sorry for. […] I had a job to do, and I did it as I saw fit” (190). Her delusion blinds her from seeing her own cruelty. It also stops her from recognizing the devil when it comes to collect her in the guise of her brother. Despite Ira’s best efforts, Miss Ada is convinced that her brother has returned to help her. Caleb tells Ira, “Let her go where she must go. We can’t give her eyes to see what she won’t see” (191). Seeing thus symbolizes more than one’s literal vision; it represents the beliefs the characters hold and the truths they refuse to see.
Names
Names symbolize one’s history and legacy in All the Lovely Bad Ones. The erasure of people’s names effectively also removes them from written memory. When people die at the poor farm, their tombstones have only a number. By using a number rather than a name, the overseers of the poor farm deny their humanity and individuality. When Travis asks Caleb if he knows the names of any of the people buried on the property, he says, “Course not […] None of us ever seen a burial” (138). The physical etching of their names into stone symbolizes the memorializing of their existence. It also serves as a recognition and acknowledgment of the injustices that they were forced to suffer.
Names have an extremely important significance in the text. Caleb says, “everybody could have their proper stones. And maybe we could rest easy” (139). Hahn directly connects having a monument dedicated to the victims of the poor farm by name with the children finally finding eternal rest. The emotional connection the children have with seeing their own names is also clear. When Ira sees the stone for the first time, “His fingers brushed his and his family’s names” (198). Ira’s need to physically touch the stone and the names carved into it once again showcases how the tangible writing of their names is an act of remembering. By remembering and honoring the people who died at the poor farm, the other characters actively stop them from being forgotten.
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