55 pages • 1 hour read
Parents Weekend
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Character Analysis
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying, child abuse, child illness and death, child sexual abuse, death, death by suicide, graphic violence, mental illness, physical abuse, sexual violence and harassment, substance use, and suicidal ideation.
The Kellers
FBI Agent Sarah Keller is the novel’s main protagonist. The narrative refers to her most often as Keller, despite primarily using first names for many other characters. This nomenclature emphasizes her role as a law enforcement officer, a profession in which using last names is the cultural norm. Keller’s backstory alludes to cases her character has solved in previous Finlay novels, an arc that has portrayed her as a realistically flawed embodiment of the hero archetype. Her main internal conflicts revolve around balancing the demands of her job and the needs of her family. Prime examples include risking her life to save Cody when he attempts suicide and again to save the students from the sea cave, despite her husband’s pleas that she exercise more caution.
Keller’s role in the investigation forms the core of the novel’s procedural element. This includes her navigation of complex legal guidelines that reveal The Tension Between Individual Privacy and Public Safety, such as searching Cody’s dorm and obtaining warrants for geofence data. Keller’s reactions to Andrew Wong and Professor Turlington are accompanied by insightful observations about sexual predators, power abusers, and manipulators that develop a critical
