67 pages • 2 hours read
Taming 7
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Themes
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of rape, sexual violence, child abuse, child sexual abuse, death by suicide, self-harm, substance and alcohol use, substance dependency, sexual content, and cursing.
The Lasting Impact of Trauma
The Boys of Tommen series is defined by the traumas that the different characters have faced, as they grow into adulthood and learn to confront and heal rather than allowing their pasts to define them. In Taming 7, Walsh explores the histories of Gibsie and Lizzie, two characters whose pasts are intertwined by the deaths of their family members and past traumatic experiences. Through their conflicts, the novel explores the lasting impact of trauma.
Gibsie was sexually abused by his stepbrother, Mark, when he was a child. He confessed this to his babysitter, Caoimhe, who is also Lizzie’s sister. When Caoimhe doesn’t believe him, only to discover the truth later on, she dies by suicide, leaving Gibsie a letter apologizing for not believing him. This information is kept hidden from Lizzie, who blames both Mark and Gibsie for Caoimhe’s death, as she believes Caoimhe died after Mark raped her. Gibsie and Lizzie are thus linked by these traumatic events, but it causes a rift between them.
Both characters try to cope with their trauma in different ways. Gibsie uses humor to cope, presenting a happy, carefree version of himself to hide the suffering he endures after what he went through.
