67 pages • 2-hour read
In A Dark Dark Wood
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Themes
Fractured Memory and Truth
A main theme of this novel concerns the relationship between memory and truth. Cliff presents Nora as an unreliable narrator: Nora can’t remember all the details about what happened the night of James’s death, so she can’t adequately defend herself from allegations that she conspired to kill James. Unable to determine who is responsible, Nora doubts herself and questions her part in James’s death. Not only does Nora distrust herself, she distrusts her former friends and new acquaintances at the hen do.
Cliff intertwines memory and truth: Nora’s journey to uncover the truth parallels her struggle to regain her memory. Nora conceals the truth of her past. As she confronts her memories, she gradually reveals the truth to both the reader and herself. In this way, the author shows memory to be less than reliable. Nora thought she understood what happened in her past and left her old life to protect herself from James’s betrayal. When Nora realizes that Clare sent the breakup text, Nora’s whole perception of her past changes. The truth both heals Nora’s fracture memory and allows Nora to heal herself.
The Power of Trust
Another major theme of story is trust. Nora reluctantly trusts Clare, even though they have not been in touch for years, because Clare lifted her up from her state of friendlessness when they were children. It takes the shocking realization that Clare betrayed her for Nora to finally realize that Clare is duplicitous. Flo also trusts Clare implicitly, which leads to Flo’s ultimate demise. Clare uses Flo to set up Nora as a conspirator. Without question, Flo sends texts to James from Nora’s phone at Clare’s request. Flo, now complicit in James’s death, ends her own life when she realizes that Clare betrayed her trust.
In a “whodunnit” like this one, it is hard for characters to know whom they can trust. Tom suspects Nora is the murderer, and Nora suspects Flo. Nora even considers briefly that Nina, her old friend, could be the murderer. Nina herself seems to imply for a moment that Nora is the murderer, which offends Nora. In the end, Clare almost gets away with murder because her friends trusted that she, although manipulative, was harmless.
The Nature of Friendship
The story examines the nature of friendship in many ways. Nora’s long-running friendship with Clare shaped her life, as it made her a meek sidekick who was afraid to assert her own desires. Nora was so grateful to Clare for having deigned to be her friend that she overlooked or forgave Clare’s many flaws and instances of thoughtlessness. When Nora sees Clare’s true nature laid bare, she realizes that their friendship has always been one-sided. Similarly, Flo considers Clare to be her best friend and savior, and she is grateful for her friendship to an unhealthy degree. Flo finally sees how one-sided their friendship is when she realizes that Clare used her as her alibi for James’s murder and to frame Nora.
The narrative reveals that Nora’s friendship with Nina is the true friendship in her life. Nina is there for Nora during her stay in the hospital, offering support of many kinds. When Tom asks who will take Nora back home to London, Nina firmly asserts that she will help Nora. At the end of the story, Nora seems more open to moving on with her life and making herself emotionally available to developing new friendships.
The Consequences of Obsession
There are several examples of obsessive behavior in the story. The most obvious is Flo’s obsession with Clare, as she considers Clare to be perfect and worthy of complete emulation. Flo dresses exactly like Clare, though she does not have the body type that favors those styles. Flo furiously defends Clare at every turn and compulsively guards against anyone “ruining” Clare’s hen do. The intensity of her adoration disturbs Nora, Nina, and Tom. Even though Melanie confides that Flo had a mental breakdown in university, from which Clare helped her recover, her explanation does not sufficiently account for Flo’s extreme behavior. Flo’s obsession with Clare leads her to unwittingly become part of Clare’s plan to frame Nora for James’s murder, which eventually leads to Flo’s own death by suicide.
Nora’s own obsession with James kept her personal growth stunted, since she could not move on with her life after their breakup. Nora tried to put her past behind her, but her continued anger towards James and her love for him prevented her from pursuing other relationships. Nora describes how she had been in a relationship with another man in London, but when he hears her call out the name “James” in her sleep, he leaves her. The author thus shows obsession to be a dangerous and destructive force that can devastate people’s lives. Only after Nora lets go of her obsession with James can she hope to move on with her life and build new relationships.
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