Not Quite Dead Yet

“Dead gray skin, rotted away to show off the string sinews of muscle below. Sunken, rubbery sockets around sparkling hazel eyes.”

The opening lines of the text create an eerie and discomforting mood, as Jet’s Halloween costume is vividly described to the reader. Ironically, she dresses as a zombie, foreshadowing her upcoming liminality on the verge of death.

“Because that was the real thing, that cold, barbed thing between Jet and Sophia. You go away to college and your best friend who stopped calling and stopped replying—and stopped caring—sets her sights on your brother instead. Anything to be in with the Masons. Jet didn’t know how to talk to her anymore, and she’d never say it, but she thought the baby was boring as fuck.”

As Jet describes the people at the Halloween Fair, she does so coldly and harshly, emphasizing her dislike of the town and the people she grew up with. Jet’s bitterness is highlighted by sarcastic humor like a “baby” being “boring,” projecting her distance from the people she should feel close to. However, it also reveals the depth of Sophia’s betrayal and Jet’s suspicion that she was only friends with Jet for the money, establishing the theme of The Connection Between Privilege and Corruption.

“A clown was bounding toward them, slipping and stumbling on the grass. A drunk clown, beer bottle in hand. […] Now she recognized him only a clown from the neck up, a half-assed red nose and wig. Underneath that, it was just Andrew Smith. He rocked on his feet, his eyes unfocused, setting on fire when they found her.”

The first introduction of Andrew emphasizes his alcohol addiction while also positioning him as someone dangerous, as Jet sees the angry “fire” in his eyes. However, the use of the word “just” before his name also conveys the role that the setting plays: Because it is a small town, she knows who he is and therefore has no fear of him, despite his anger and aggression.