Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

Throughout the novel, Schwab explores the impact of hunger, freedom, and identity through the perspectives of Alice, Sabine, and Charlotte. Before Alice becomes a vampire, she struggles with identity formation, as she isn’t the version of herself that she yearns to be. When she looks at herself in the mirror at the co-op party, she sees in her reflection the possibilities for the woman she could become, wishing “she could trade herself for the girl in the glass. This other Alice, who doesn’t care, who takes up space, who has no growing left to do” (25). Alice cares intensely about what others think about her, and she seeks to minimize herself to avoid attention or scrutiny. She wants to feel confident in herself and in her place in the world, and vampirism allows her to find a greater sense of confidence. Alice only sees herself as valuable if she’s confident, like her sister Catty, and seeking to build that confidence in herself reflects the depth of her grief. Her arc centers on learning to embrace her authentic self rather than trying to fit the mold of someone else.

Vampirism offers Sabine freedom—the thing she most hungers for. Once she’s turned, she relishes her power to move through the world without fear of danger or the constraints of patriarchal society.