Criss Cross

“Thinking she should be more specific in case her wish came true, even though it wasn’t an official wish, it was just a thought, Debbie thought, I wish something different would happen. Something good. To me. As she thought it, she wound her finger in the necklace she was wearing, which was her own, then unwound it again.”

Debbie’s secret wish for something to happen to her launches her Search for Meaning and Understanding. At the novel’s start, Debbie feels caught in Seldem and tired of her predictable life. She wants change because she desires newness, exploration, and discovery. This longing is a fundamental aspect of coming of age. Further, the image of her twisting her necklace repeatedly around her finger while she makes her wish enacts her internal unrest and her longing for transformation. The scene also introduces the necklace motif and foreshadows its symbolic significance in the subsequent chapters.

“He definitely felt unfinished, still in process. He felt that there was still time, that by the time three years had passed and he was seventeen, as Rowanne was now, he, too, might coalesce into something. Maybe not something as remarkable as Rowanne, but something. It was possible, he felt.”

Hector’s internal monologue about his identity initiates his Journey Towards Self-Discovery. Hector is studying his reflection in the hallway window while peeking in on his sister Rowanne in her bedroom. This physical scenario inspires Hector to privately compare and contrast himself with his older sibling. He wants to become someone more defined and assured like Rowanne but isn’t yet sure how to pursue this internal change. His reflections on Rowanne also echo Debbie’s habit of comparing herself to her older sister—the characters are looking to their “elders” to formulate independent senses of self.