Bad Summer People

“The thought that all her mom friends would be spending the summer together without her made her anxious and jealous, and she hated that Jason needled her about it. ‘You need to stop doing things just because everyone else is,’ he’d say, after she’d insist on going to a certain vacation spot in St. Barts, or hiring the most sought-after tutor, or joining the golf club in Westchester that half of Braeburn belonged to. It’s not like Jason was some renegade […] Where did he get off telling her she was a sheep?”

This passage suggests that Lauren is easily led and easily bullied, for despite her lofty social status, she demonstrates an inability to set boundaries with others and is often swayed by superficial social interactions. The passage also shows Jason’s hypocrisy, for although he criticizes Lauren’s conventionality, it is clear that he himself only wants a house on Fire Island because he associates it with Sam’s wealth and with his own ongoing affair with Jen.

“Robert had thought that maybe they’d get married. He’d known it was a silly idea—they were only twenty-one. But he loved being with her, and more importantly, he loved her life.”

This passage sums up Robert Heyworth’s character succinctly and accurately, for although he did once have genuine feelings for Julie, those feelings were inextricably linked to his desire for her money. Yet in a sharp contrast to this inner desire, Robert also wants to be his own man rather than being financially supported by a wife. As the novel progresses, however, it will soon become clear that his version of standing on his own feet is contradictory at best, for it will depend upon theft and deception. Thus, Robert’s entire persona is eventually revealed to be a lie.

“If we were riding our bikes too fast, or jumping off the lifeguard stand after hours, or drinking at the yacht club when we were teenagers. She was always just…there. Watching and judging.”

In this description of Susan’s overall attitude, the author introduces the theme of The Consequences of Moral Relativity, for Susan herself represents the overarching presence of good-sense rules and moral behavior that are designed to keep people safe and preserve social stability. In a contrast to Susan’s straightforward approach to the world, the other characters want to dictate their own rules and pursue their own desires regardless of the wider consequences.

“Jason Parker had always hated his best friend, Sam Weinstein. Maybe hated was too strong a word. Resented, more like felt jealous of. Was annoyed by. No, hated was probably the right way to describe it.”

This passage occurs in the first paragraph of Jason’s chapter and is designed to paint Jason as unlikeable and untrustworthy. This initial impression is later confirmed by his own account of his relationship with Jen. The passage also intensifies the unspoken irony in the narrative when Sam legally represents Jason and gets him acquitted of Susan’s murder at the end of the novel.

“Rich people were miserable, but they didn’t know how lucky they were. They paid her $1,450 a week […] It was nothing for them. She was at the top rate for a nanny. She wondered how she could squeeze more out of them before she retired.”

Sylvia is an outsider to the Parkers and others of their socioeconomic class, so she is able to see beyond the polished surface of their seemingly idyllic existence. However, Sylvia has been consumed by this world to the extent that she craves to achieve a higher status than she currently holds. Being in such close proximity to people who enjoy such a generous salary and luxurious lifestyle, she finds herself engaging in covetous thoughts, and just like her employers, however much she earns will never be enough to satisfy her.

“Beth was a pathological liar—someone who lied to get her own way or manipulate others—rather than a compulsive liar, who lied out of habit.”

Beth embodies the dishonesty underlying Salcombe summer society. Lies are a form of micronarrative imposed on other people by a single individual. Not everyone on the island uses this tactic quite as frequently as Beth, but dishonesty and manipulation are nonetheless a consistent undercurrent among all the characters.

“Lauren was occasionally irritated by Rachel, but in situations like these, she was useful. Rachel was loyal to Lauren, and Lauren knew she’d spread anti-Beth gossip accordingly.”

Gossip and character assassination are the regulatory tools used by Salcombe society to maintain the boundaries between cliques and impose a sense of social hierarchy on all of the summer people. Within this context, it is clear that Lauren uses Rachel’s gossip to warn members of her own group not to step outside the established social lines.

“His whole life, [Sam’s] entire childhood, had revolved around the fact that his parents hated each other but stayed together regardless. Without that, he felt destabilized.”

Jen counts on Sam’s aversion to the concept of divorce to overcome his sense of betrayal over her infidelity. However, she fails to account for the fact that his parents’ decision to stay together was part of the problem. Ultimately, he chooses not to repeat that part of his parents’ mistakes and divorces Jen by the end of the novel, leaving her free to pursue any affair she wishes without the necessary titillation of deceiving a husband in the process.

“It struck Micah that maybe it wasn’t a question of if people were liars but just of how big a liar you were.”

Micah is an outside observer of the novel’s many sordid events, for as a bartender, he sees people with their defenses down. In this way, the author uses his perspective as a more objective point of view to confirm the reality of the main characters’ misdeeds and manipulations.

“Women always complimented each other’s shots, gave supportive advice, told each other how cute they looked in their outfits. But just below the surface, they all wanted to kill each other.”

This passage illustrates the constant presence of lies as a corrupting force within Salcombe society, for the world of the Salcombe women is full of micronarratives in which the external, agreed-upon reality is imposed by the ruling class. Beneath this wider framework, each woman labors to impose their own version of reality on others, even as she hides the many resentments that color her perceptions of the other women around her.

“She really was so goddamn pretty, Jason thought, looking at his wife. He wished he liked her more.”

This passage illustrates the lies and undercurrents in all the relationships among the main characters, and it also shifts the overall perception of Jason and Jen’s affair, for Jason’s inner thoughts reveal that he and Lauren have never been in love with each other. Instead, they are held together by prestige and money.

“[Lisa Metzner] did love Brian. She made fun of him, sure, and rolled her eyes at his jokes. She cringed when he said something crass. But he was her big lunkhead, and he took care of her and the girls. Brian had always reminded her of her father […] They were both warm, generous, slightly ridiculous men.”

This passage illustrates one of the rare relationships in which the inner reality matches the external one. Lisa recognizes both her husband’s failings and his strengths, and she loves both parts of him. Her jokes about him are in themselves an expression of the security of their relationship, and her marriage stands as a deliberate contrast to the corrupted relationships that the novel’s main characters continue to endure.

“Not that being nice meant you couldn’t also be having an affair. Look at what Robert was up to. Lying and stealing and sleeping with someone else’s wife.”

Like the other summer people, Robert’s self-concept has little to do with his actions. He recognizes that he has been dishonest, but he doesn’t allow his recent actions to tarnish his own perception of his character. Later, this pattern is intensified to the point of absurdity, for he tells Jen and Sam that he is not a murderer, even though he has just killed Susan in cold blood.

“Why did she care if Robert, the cute young tennis pro, was sleeping with Lauren Parker, who was clearly unhappy in her marriage to that pill Jason? Susan had always been wary of Jason, whom she’d known since he was a boy, coming out to visit Sam. He was dark and glum and didn’t say to her when he by on his bike.”

Susan represents the grand narratives of honor, loyalty, and truth and often regrets that her neighbors fall short of those values. Consequently, she sees through many of the micronarratives that the other characters insist on projecting. While other people see nothing amiss in Jason’s behavior with Jen, Susan quickly realizes that his conduct does not meet the criteria for “good” and honorable behavior.

“[Robert] had found in his career that women were, as a whole, huge cheaters. It surprised Robert that women were worse than men in this regard, but perhaps men just saved it for their lives outside tennis.”

The men and women in Salcombe may have different levels and styles of cheating, but they are equally dishonest. The women compete with each other more openly, while the men keep their financial games more discreet. Ultimately, however, the men’s financial misdeeds are on a larger scale than the women’s petty social squabbles.

“[Jason] knew that most people didn’t want to murder their best friends. He couldn’t help it. Sam had everything. Jason had always had to work twice as hard to find success, women, and respect Why couldn’t he ever be the star?”

Robert may have observed that women are the worst cheaters when it comes to tennis, but Jason’s dishonesty is revealed to be a bone-deep character trait, for this passage reflects the fact that he has been fundamentally corrupted by jealousy since childhood.

“Jen felt truly terrible. She’d always thought of her affairs as hers, private matters meant to sate her own needs.”

Like most of the characters, Jen’s inner world is a micronarrative in which she has always seen herself just as she wanted and has disregarded grand narratives of loyalty and truth. However, she must now face the consequences of this stance, and she is self-reflective enough to see the flaw in herself. However, her realization doesn’t compel her to change her ways.

“‘Happiness isn’t always what you think it will be,’ said Jen. ‘At least that’s what I tell my clients.’”

All the characters have been searching for happiness in their own ways. Lauren’s happiness has been in money, and Jen’s has been in her affairs, while Robert has dreamed of reaching the social status of the people he teaches to play tennis. Jason, however, has wanted to own everything that Sam owns. By the novel’s conclusion, it is not clear whether any of them have found happiness or if they have settled instead for shallow contentment. Jen may impart this piece of wisdom to her clients, but she doesn’t necessarily follow it herself.

“‘We will all miss Susan Steinhagen enormously,’ said Steve. The microphone screeched with more feedback, causing many in the crowd to cover their ears.”

The screech of the microphone followed by the covering up of ears symbolically suggests that in fact, the summer people don’t have the depth of emotion necessary to care about or to miss Susan. This dynamic becomes particularly pronounced after the author demonstrates that the Parkers and the Weinsteins are still cordial after all the affairs, betrayals, and secrets. Despite recent events, they don’t feel anything deeply.

“‘I just can’t believe you’d cheat on me with Jason. I’m not sure I’ll ever get over it. I don’t know how I can.’

Jen didn’t say anything. There was nothing to say. He didn’t know her, not really.

‘I think you will get over it,’ she finally whispered. Sam was simpler than she was.”

Jen regards Sam as simple because he believes in grand narratives like right and wrong, loyalty and fidelity, and truth and justice. She rejects those universal ideas and believes that her moral relativism is more insightful. Ultimately, however, she is incorrect in her assessment that Sam will “get over it,” for he values marital fidelity enough that he refuses to stay in a relationship with someone who does not hold the same values.

“[Jason] was cold, he knew, even when it came to his wife and kids. He’d loved Jen, at least he thought he did, but perhaps what he’d loved the most about her was that she was Sam’s.”

Jason has been somewhat reconciled to Sam by the fact that he has taken something that belonged to his friend in the same way that Sam has always owned the things that Jason felt entitled to possess. They are now closer to being equal in Jason’s eyes.

“‘Sam, do you remember when we were kids and we used to ride our bikes together on the boardwalks? I’d close my eyes, and you’d direct me—left right, left, right—making sure I didn’t fall off the side.’

Sam nodded.

‘I think that’s the closest I’ve ever felt to someone in my life.’”

Jason has admitted, at least to himself, that he has always hated Sam, yet ironically, he has always trusted Sam implicitly. His love for Sam therefore conflicts with his ongoing jealousy, paradoxically producing an unreasoning hatred of the man that guides many of his more questionable actions.

“Had a woman been killed? By people he’d known his whole life? [Micah] felt like an entirely different person than when he’d left school last June. Older, embittered. He missed being a kid missed thinking that adults were there to protect him.”

Micah has experienced a coming-of-age moment on Salcombe and has lost the innocence that characterizes the children there. The previous generation of Salcombe children—his parents’ generation—were as innocent as he himself was until just recently, but they changed and became jaded and morally ambiguous. Now, Micah realizes that he too must change, very intentionally, in a different direction than his parents’ generation.