56 pages • 1-hour read
Force of Nature
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Symbols & Motifs
The Contracts
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying and violence.
Aaron and Carmen’s investigation targets the organized financial crimes that habitually occur at Bailey Tennant. Both Daniel Bailey and his father are involved in the complex money-laundering conspiracy, but Aaron also alludes to Alice’s complicity. When Alice goes missing, she is just about to provide Aaron with the documents he needs to prove Daniel’s guilt. Many of these documents are company contracts, and they are mentioned repeatedly throughout the narrative, becoming one of its key motifs. For example, Aaron and Carmen worry that Daniel or another employee might have found out about Alice’s cooperation with their investigation. Because they fear that she has been deliberately silenced for her clandestine actions, their concerns highlight The Impact of Corporate Greed. The contracts in question go back years and prove that embezzlement is part of the corporate culture at Bailey Tennant.
The author also uses this aspect of the narrative to explore the corrosive nature that greed has on the individuals and families involved with unethical corporations. Aaron and Carmen uncover that Bailey Tennant has always been a funnel for illicit cash, and they know that the Bailey family has long profited from these habitual acts of embezzlement and fraud, building a lavish lifestyle from the untaxed, undeclared income that this scheme has generated. The family’s ill-gotten wealth also helps Daniel to shield his son from prosecution when Joel, who has just turned 18, distributes explicit images of his ex-girlfriend, who is still a minor. The broader argument at work here is that the Bailey family willingly breaks the law and buys influence both at work and at home. The narrative’s recurring mentions of the incriminating contracts imply that Aaron has the potential to bring down not only a powerful company but a powerful family who wields their influence in unethical ways.
Adolescent Bullying
With the recurring motif of adolescent bullying, the author explores The Extremity of Parents’ Protective Instincts. Multiple characters experience bullying as teenagers, and because the bullies’ parents display similar behavior in the adult world, Harper draws a firm connection between poor role models and children’s egregious misbehavior. Just as the teenage, overweight Lauren endured Alice’s bullying during the pair’s high school years, Lauren’s daughter, Rebecca, deals with similar taunts from Alice’s daughter, Margot, and this dynamic proves that problematic behavior is often passed down from parent to child.
Lauren’s adolescent experiences with bullying also render her a passive and uncertain adult who struggles to maintain friendships, perform well at work, and effectively parent her daughter. As Rebecca and Margot become embroiled in various bullying scandals, the spiraling nature of these conflicts echoes the increasingly deadly altercations that the women experience during the disastrous hike. By setting up mirroring dynamics amongst different characters, the author delivers a sharp critique on the learned aspects of bullying, and even Alice’s violent death implies that when such problems go unresolved and unchecked, the entire situation will eventually explode and cause lasting, traumatic damage to everyone concerned. Because Lauren is too traumatized from her own experience of adolescent bullying to truly come to the aid of her daughter, her suppressed rage is ultimately expressed in a spontaneous act of violence that claims Alice’s life.
Violence
The recurring scenes of violence highlight the author’s exploration of The Instability of Group Dynamics. When the four women return to the lodge after their ill-fated hike, bruised and bloodied, they offer conflicting explanations for their condition, and this first mention of violence is only one of many. Even indirect side concerns—such as the previous presence of serial killer Martin Kovac and his violent son Sam at the cabin—loom large over the narrative, and the broader focus on the investigation is punctuated by flashback chapters featuring escalating strife and multiple physical fights amongst the women’s hiking group. Through these various acts, Harper suggests that humans have an innate capacity for violence, one that is exacerbated by the presence of external stresses. For example, the women come to blows after getting lost and disagreeing on how best to proceed, and they have multiple arguments about food, supplies, and their one cell phone. They are unable to solve their dispute verbally, even though conflict resolution has been a part of each woman’s corporate career training. Even when the initial physical altercation ends, tensions remain high, and Lauren and Alice later come to additional blows due to the simmering anger from the group fight and, also because of to, but also because of t their troubled history. When Lauren assaults and accidentally kills Alice, this act demonstrates the devolution of their relationship and represents the dynamics in their group, writ large.
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