No Place Left to Hide

The central conflict of No Place Left to Hide revolves around the tension between ambition and morality. Brooke and her family, the Goodwins, are defined by their extreme ambition. In her earliest scenes, she struggles with the looming news about whether she’s accepted into Yale, knowing that her parents will be angry if she’s rejected. The only thing that shakes her out of this state of mind is when she arrives at her car to find it covered in newspapers referring to Claire Heck’s drowning at the Goodwins’ lake house. For a moment, she’s scared, but Brooke’s thoughts quickly return to her main goal: “I could have had my answer [from Yale] months ago, but I missed the deadline because of…the incident. Yet another thing I lost because of her” (10). This is the first hint that Brooke prizes achievements over people and relationships. To Brooke and her family, morality is meaningless unless it furthers their personal ambitions.

Much of her self-absorption is learned from her parents, and she is forced to maintain her family’s status over her feelings of right and wrong at times. Throughout high school, Brooke takes part in several philanthropic extracurricular activities, but she doesn’t do these out of any moral conviction.