59 pages • 1-hour read
Bad Blood
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, child abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and death.
The Wheel and the Fibonacci Sequence
Throughout the novel are references to the turning wheel and the Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci sequence is an infinite mathematical pattern found in nature, in which each number is the sum of the previous two numbers. Together, the wheel and the Fibonacci sequence are a motif that represents the Masters’ rigid, ritualistic ideology, which seeks to impose a mathematical order onto the chaos of human life and death. This framework is a core thematic expression of The Duality of Power and Control, showcasing the villains’ approach to psychological dominance. The novel opens with their mantra: “Without order, there is chaos. Without order, there is pain. The wheel turns. Lives are forfeit” (3). This establishes their philosophy that murder isn’t a passionate or random act but a necessary, cyclical function required to maintain a twisted sense of cosmic balance. The wheel symbolizes an inescapable, predetermined fate, suggesting that its targets are merely sacrifices whose lives are governed by a force beyond their control.
The cold precision of the Fibonacci sequence, which the Masters use to dictate the dates of the murders, further dehumanizes targets by reducing their existence to points in a mathematical pattern. When Sloane identifies the next date in the sequence as April 2, the abstract concept of the turning wheel becomes a tangible, terrifying deadline (22). This methodical approach to killing is the Masters’ primary tool of control: It transforms murder into a ritual, elevating their crimes into what they perceive as a higher purpose. By creating this inescapable and seemingly logical system, they assert their power not just over the bodies of their targets but over the very concepts of time and fate.
Games
Throughout the novel, the games motif frames the novel’s central conflicts as high-stakes contests of psychological warfare, thematically connecting to The Duality of Power and Control. Survival isn’t just a matter of physical endurance but a battle of wits, manipulation, and strategy. When Cassie meets with Daniel Redding, she consciously engages in what she calls a “game of verbal chess” (10), using language to control the interaction and extract information from a master manipulator. This framing establishes that in the world of the Naturals, power is won not through brute force but through superior psychological maneuvering. Characters constantly engage in game-like strategies; Lia dons personas to misdirect antagonists and to protect the other Naturals, while Michael uses his emotion-reading ability to anticipate his opponents’ moves, treating social interactions as a contest he must win.
The motif’s most disturbing appearance occurs when Cassie’s half-sister, Laurel, describes their captive mother wearing shackles, explaining, “It’s part of the game” (107). This moment reveals how Laurel has been conditioned to experience trauma as a normal part of life, transforming horrific abuse into a set of rules to be followed, which illuminates the theme of The Moral Compromises Necessary for Survival. For Laurel, survival itself is a game that her captors have taught her, in which violence and submission are key strategies. The symbolism of games thus underscores the immense psychological cost of survival, demonstrating how characters must adopt their tormentors’ logic and blurring the line between the target and the player in a deadly contest.
Scars
The symbol of scars, both physical and emotional, tangibly represents the indelible impact of past trauma, connecting to the themes of The Loyalty and Support of Found Family Versus Blood Ties. The most prominent example of this connection is Dean Redding’s physical scars, which are a constant, visible record of his father’s abuse. Cassie references this trauma to get information from Daniel Redding, telling him, “Sometimes I run my fingers along his scars. […] I gave him those scars” (12). This exchange reveals that the scars are more than just wounds; they’re a currency of pain and a symbol of the toxic, possessive bond of blood that Daniel still claims over his son. Dean’s struggle against his father’s legacy is a fight to prove that these marks don’t define him and that the healing his found family offers is stronger than the wounds inflicted by his biological one.
The symbol dominates the final, horrifying image of Cassie’s mother, Lorelai, whose body is “covered in twisting, puckered scars” (349). These scars represent the novel’s exploration of survival’s corrupting influence, thematically supporting The Moral Compromises Necessary for Survival. Lorelai’s scars are physical manifestations of every act of torture she endured and every monstrous choice she made to live. While Dean’s scars represent the trauma he seeks to heal from, Lorelai’s scars symbolize how trauma remade her into something terrifying. The symbol of scars thus illustrates a spectrum of survival, from the possibility of healing within a chosen family to the complete physical transformation into a product of one’s own suffering.
Unlock the meaning behind every key symbol & motif
See how recurring imagery, objects, and ideas shape the narrative.
- Explore how the author builds meaning through symbolism
- Understand what symbols & motifs represent in the text
- Connect recurring ideas to themes, characters, and events