The Stranger’s central mystery examines how secrets can have widespread effects, both for the secret keeper and for those to whom the secret is revealed. Through Corinne’s, Chris’s, and Tripp’s arcs, the novel explores the destructive power of secrets.

Before the events of the novel’s main timeline, Corinne faked her pregnancy because she suspected that Adam was having an affair, while Adam concealed the fact that he was working late on a case at Sally’s house. The secrecy from both partners jeopardizes their marriage, as Corinne tried to save her marriage by manipulating Adam, and in turn, the later revelation of this secret shatters Adam’s trust in Corinne. Although Adam eventually understands why Corinne faked her pregnancy and forgives her, the novel suggests that the crisis could have been avoided if both partners had been honest and transparent with one another regarding their behavior and feelings.

Chris Taylor runs his blackmailing group to expose others’ secrets, seeking to justify himself by claiming that exposing secrets is a good thing. His criminal interference in others’ lives only causes heartbreak and humiliation for his victims: Kimberly Dann’s secret threatens her relationship with her parents and public humiliation, Michaela Siegel’s secret threatens her wedding and the new life she’s already rebuilt, and Dan Molino’s secret threatens his son’s future and his own reputation. None of these characters are grateful to the stranger: Instead, they are furious when he tries to extort them for large sums of money and feel violated by his attempted control and manipulation of them. The novel therefore emphasizes that while secrets can be destructive, it is also destructive to use other people’s secrets against them for dishonest ends like blackmail.

Finally, Tripp’s arc also illustrates how secrets are a destructive force when someone refuses to face the consequences of their own misdeeds. Tripp’s first secret is that he steals funds from the lacrosse team. When the board notices this theft, he tries to frame Corinne for the crime. When Corinne threatens to expose Tripp, Tripp responds by murdering her. The escalation of Tripp’s behavior in trying to keep his secrets suggests that secrets can sometimes proliferate, with Tripp’s increasingly desperate and violent actions only leading to more and more suffering, misery, and secrecy. 

The Stranger therefore implies that secrets are a destructive force in various ways. While some try to keep their own secrets, others, like Chris and his blackmailers, try to use secrets to manipulate other people for their own financial enrichment and sense of power.

The residents of Cedarfield all feel like they are living the American dream: They have houses in picturesque neighborhoods, multiple vehicles to cart around happy children, lucrative careers, and loving spouses. However, the narrative peers behind this picture of perfection and exposes the sometimes sinister—and, more often, desperate—behavior that supports this lifestyle, revealing the precarious façade of suburban success.

The text slowly reveals its characters’ less-than-perfect personal lives hidden behind outward confidence and material possessions. Bob Baime exemplifies this dichotomy between public and private life. Bob is a showoff, so much so that Adam likens him to Gaston from Beauty and the Beast for his incessant swaggering. He boasts about his beautiful wife, drives luxury cars, and demands respect as the lacrosse team’s head coach. Behind this arrogant exterior, however, Bob has been unemployed for a year, his house is under threat of foreclosure, and his wife may divorce him. Bob is deeply ashamed that he isn’t the breadwinner of his family, so he overcompensates to appear like nothing is wrong. Tripp similarly seems at ease in his comfortable Cedarfield life by philosophizing about “living the dream” (14). In reality, he struggles to financially support his family’s lifestyle and commits crimes to keep up the façade.

Residents of Cedarfield feel pressured to maintain a certain level of perfection in their life, and they compete with one another to be the happiest picture of familial bliss. Corinne’s subliminal tension with her neighbors typifies this race to the top, as she often hyper-focuses on meaningless details of her family’s life so that she can match or outdo those around her. For example, when Adam notices the unkempt lawn, he knows that Corinne will complain about it because it makes them look lazy. In comparison, their neighbor’s yard “look[s] ready to host a PGA event”—a nearly impossible standard for a residential lawn, but Corinne “c[a]n’t help but compare” (49).

Characters are so desperate to maintain appearances that they resort to morally questionable, or even illegal, actions to uphold their lifestyle and avoid embarrassment. Bob rigs the lacrosse team draft in Jimmy Hoch’s favor because Jimmy’s father is helping him look for a job, while Tripp steals from the lacrosse team so that he can supplement his very low income. The subplot with the Rinskys also exemplifies the shady dealings behind projects of supposed “progress.” On the outside, the gentrification project touts to be an improvement of the neighborhood, but the developer and mayor are willing to unhouse an elderly couple in their quest for profits.

These situations therefore expose the fragility of success and the dangers of trying to appear happy at the cost of authenticity, suggesting that the American dream is not always what it appears to be.