Brother

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of bullying, child abuse, child sexual abuse, child death, graphic violence, sexual content, cursing, death, physical abuse, and emotional abuse.

Music plays a large role in the novel, becoming a motif that represents escape. Misty listens to a variety of records in her room and plays records to counter her violent life. As a woman is being killed outside and screaming “bloody murder,” Misty plays ABBA. The narrator quips, “Misty didn’t like the screaming either, but she absolutely loved Swedish pop” (11). The music both changes the atmosphere and literally covers up the sounds of murder. Instead of listening to the sounds of a brutalized woman, Misty hears upbeat music she loves, which frees her from her family’s farmhouse and puts her somewhere else.

The music store symbolizes a different escape as the Dervish record shop becomes central to Michael’s subtle growth. Within its walls, he experiences a different life and connection with people outside his family, a glimpse of what life would be like if he escaped the Morrows. However, the escape he finds there doesn’t translate to his relationships at home. As Misty tries to have sex with Michael, she plays The Cure’s “A Forest,” music that he got from Alice.