The Intruder

True to the parameters of the psychological thriller genre, The Intruder examines how trauma can impact the individual’s engagement with reality and others. For the protagonist Elizabeth “Ella” Casey, who goes by Ella in the past and Casey in the present, trauma has defined her sense of self ever since she was a little girl. She lived in a house where the “odor molecules seem[ed] to be multiplying, filling [her] lungs and almost choking [her]” (65). Worse still, as a young adult Ella lived with a mother who neglected her care and abused her emotionally and physically. The scenes of Desiree verbally berating Ella’s intelligence and appearance, locking her in closets, or burning her skin with cigarettes convey how dire Ella’s circumstances have always been. In the narrative present, Ella has grown up to be a loner living in a secluded cabin in the New Hampshire woods. Now going by Casey, she has struggled to outgrow her trauma and to make a life for herself beyond her tumultuous past.

Even using a new name implies how she has severed herself from her childhood rather than embracing it and healing, a character detail reaffirmed by the narrative choice to present “Ella” and “Casey” as two different characters. While this helps set up a plot twist and heighten tension, it also shows just how disjointed Casey feels psychologically. The presence of Eleanor/Nell offers her an opportunity to confront her past. While Eleanor is also implied to be “Ella” to set up the same plot twist, Eleanor acts as a manifestation of Casey’s inner child. When Eleanor first appears at Casey’s cabin, Casey recognizes something of herself in her. She is emaciated, covered in blood and bruises, and constantly on edge. While making Eleanor dinner, Casey “notice[s] she’s wearing only a T-shirt under her hoodie. And her bare arms are scarred with small white circles. Old cigarette burns” (72). Eleanor’s battered appearance in the narrative present directly recalls Casey’s circumstances when she was the same age. The overlaps between the characters’ experiences inspire Casey to reflect on her own trauma and to fully come to terms with it for the first time.

She also understands that a person’s pain can develop into aggression and violence over time. This happened to Casey and is about to happen to Eleanor, who plans to attack her alleged biological father for abandoning her as a baby. Casey intercepts this attempted murder in hopes of protecting Eleanor from more trauma: “I don’t want her to do it. I don’t want her to have to see it in her dreams every night” (223). This implies that Ella’s decision to kill her mother by burning the house down haunts her the most, even though it was a response to her abuse, and marks the defining moment when Ella began reidentifying as Casey, someone separated from the horrors she witnessed as a child. In stopping Eleanor from doing the same, she can give Eleanor the chance she never had to heal and move on before doing something she’ll regret. This moment begets a period of healing for both Eleanor and Casey. Casey can confront and begin to accept her inner child while acting alongside Lee as Eleanor’s guide toward a happier childhood.