70 pages • 2 hours read
Hunting Adeline
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Symbols & Motifs
The Rose Scars
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of gender and/or transgender discrimination, sexual violence and/or harassment, rape, mental illness, child abuse, suicidal ideation and/or self-harm, graphic violence, sexual content, death, physical abuse, and emotional abuse.
There are two rose scars in the novel, both carved by Zade for different reasons. The first rose scar is the one on Zade’s own chest, which he carves with a broken fragment of mirror out of anger at himself for losing Adeline. For him, the rose represents his failure to protect her, and it stands as a representation of the darkness that he believes is overcoming him. Zade sees the rose as a renunciation of his humanity, showing the depths of his anger and desire for vengeance. The fact that he carves the rose with a fragment of mirror emphasizes the reflective nature of the rose, which brands him with a symbol of his and Adeline’s love. However, Adeline sees this scar only as a symbol of his love and his fundamental desire to save her. Although Zade believes that the rose represents his lost humanity, Adeline redefines it as a symbol of his connection with her.
Zade carves the second rose scar on Adeline’s chest when she asks him to do so. Her intention is to use this image as an extension of the overwriting process, in which Zade carves over the scars left by Xavier, and as a further symbol of her desire to be with Zade. Because Adeline’s trauma prevents her from physically expressing her love for Zade, she sees the rose as a promise: a guarantee that she and Zade belong to one another. Adeline’s rose is more explicitly a symbol of their relationship, since it is born of her desire to reconnect emotionally, while Zade’s scar is born of a desire to reconnect materially by finding and saving Adeline.
Molly’s Journal
Molly’s journal is a reference to Carlton’s spin-off novel, Where’s Molly, which follows Molly Devereaux as she escapes from Francesca’s house in a time frame preceding Adeline’s tenure there. After Molly’s experience in Francesca’s house, she takes on the role of disposing of bodies for illegal activities. In the journal, Molly discusses her desire to escape and find her sister, Layla, with whom she is reunited in Where’s Molly. Molly’s escape is dependent on Rio, and the story of her escape mirrors Adeline’s. The journal shows both the need for resilience in difficult situations and the extent of human trafficking as a crime. The fact that Rio helped Molly escape in 2008, just as he is now helping Adeline in 2021, reinforces Rio’s story as a survivor of Francesca’s abuse, as well as his willingness to help the captive women when he can.
However, the journal takes on a specific symbolic meaning for Adeline, who uses it as a way to maintain hope. She does not know if Molly escaped, but the belief that Molly made it out of Francesca’s house alive grants Adeline a sense of determination. After finishing the journal, Adeline begins writing in it herself, first to record her plans and feelings in Francesca’s home, and later to continue expressing herself and examining her trauma after escaping. In this sense, the journal becomes a symbol of solidarity and recovery, as it helps Adeline to escape her imprisonment and to recover from it.
Francesca’s Heels
When meeting Francesca and living in her house, Adeline notes that the woman dresses glamorously and always wears heels. In the house, Adeline can often tell where Francesca is based on the sound of her heels as she walks. The heels also represent Francesca’s femininity, adding a paradoxical dimension to her position within the human trafficking hierarchy, for just like Claire, she is a woman who chooses to perpetuate the abuse of other women despite being a target of abuse herself. Francesca’s heels serve as a reminder of this contradiction. When Sydney destroys Francesca’s heels, Francesca assaults Adeline with a broken heel, further establishing the heel as a symbol of her unique position as a woman with power in this inherently misogynist environment. The physical use of the heel as a means of abusing another woman highlights the paradox of Francesca’s life, in which she is both a woman and an abuser of women.
Later in the novel, Adeline reclaims this symbol of feminine oppression, shoving a heel down Francesca’s throat to silence her. As with Francesca’s use of the heel as a tool for abuse, Adeline directs the femininity inherent in the heel as a means of cutting off Francesca’s ability to abuse others. In this sense, the heel shifts from being a symbol of abuse and misogyny into a reclaimed symbol of feminine solidarity. By silencing Francesca with the woman’s own heel, Adeline stands against Francesca, Claire, and any other woman who is complicit in the abuse of women.
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