Forget Me Not

A key theme in Forget Me Not is that unhealed trauma from parental emotional neglect has lasting negative impacts. Through Marcia and Claire’s experiences, the novel examines how such neglect can impact an individual’s decision-making and sometimes lead to dangerous consequences.

Mr. and Mrs. Rayburn are very religious and employ restrictive tactics to protect Marcia. They refuse to let her go to movies, listen to rock music, and forbid her to go to college. They want to limit real-world dangers but instead create a claustrophobic living space. Since they won’t let Marcia learn about people like Mitchell, when he arrives, Marcia is very susceptible to him and the lifestyle he offers because it seems to promise love and freedom. If Marcia’s parents had listened to Marcia’s desires, and been more proactive instead of fearful, they might have been able to equip her to deal with Mitchell’s machinations and Lily’s duplicity. Seeing Alan’s love of Annie, makes Marcia realize what true affection is and becoming pregnant brings out her own desire to protect her baby in a way her parents did not protect her. Learning from her own mistakes, she plans a better life, which she unfortunately never gets to lead.

While Claire’s distance from her mother comes out of grief, her mother’s emotional neglect creates dangerous vulnerabilities that cloud Claire’s judgment.