The Things She's Seen

Because Beth and Michael do not yet understand that Catching is not the witness whom they were initially meant to interview, they do not connect the fact that four men have died and that Catching’s story blames four men for the crimes against her, Crow, and others. However, once Michael begins to ponder Bell’s death, his mysterious comment to Beth about another way into the house hints that he has begun to put some of the clues together. Although Beth and Michael do not yet fully realize the connections between Catching’s story and the mystery they are trying to solve, they do understand the allegorical nature of her tale. Both are horrified by Catching’s ordeal with imprisonment and rape, but Michael’s conviction that Catching experienced sexual violence at the rehab facility is essentially a red herring, since Catching was never in the rehab facility. At this point, Michael and Beth do not yet realize that the violence against Catching took place at the children’s home itself. Thus, Catching’s refusal of Michael’s help in Chapter 14 does far more than merely characterize her as tough and self-sufficient; it also foreshadows the later revelation that both Crow and the men who tormented the girls are already dead. Similar foreshadowing is evident in Beth’s observation that Catching’s colors have deepened, for this detail is yet another hint that the deaths of Bell and the others are deeply important to Catching.

Beth’s character growth also accelerates in this section, for although she still believes in hope, her understanding of the grieving process in the wake of death becomes more nuanced. Catching plays an important role in Beth’s new perspective, helping her to realize that she and Michael cannot recreate the life they had before the car accident. After her argument with her father, Beth sees this even more clearly, and her decision to literally walk away from her father symbolically foreshadows her decision to symbolically “walk away” at the end of the book and move on to the “other side.” Shortly afterward, the reappearance of the mystical sea of colors is—coupled with her redoubled rejection of this new opportunity to move on—finally forces a turning point in her spiritual growth, for even though she returns to her father, she is forced to admit to herself “I [don’t] belong here anymore” (127). This explicit statement marks an abrupt end to her willful denial, and even as her presence continues to linger, her outlook has irrevocably shifted.

Juxtaposed with Beth’s inner growth, Michael also undergoes significant character developments. He still struggles against his grief in order to find the will to do what is right, but his gentle understanding of Catching’s predicament illustrates his ability to understand and respond to someone else’s pain. However, the depths of his inner conflict flare up whenever he snaps at his daughter, and these incidents most often occur when she tries to help him to acknowledge and heal his own pain. His deliberate isolation from his family is further complicated by Beth’s anger over this choice, for her reaction to her father’s withdrawal indicates how important these family relationships are in her Aboriginal worldview. She believes that his refusal to attend Grandpa Jim’s birthday party will ruin the event for everyone else even as it keeps him from processing his grief. Her insistence that he rejoin the family therefore reinforces the novel’s emphasis on The Role of the Community in Healing Grief. However, when Michael realizes his own role in preventing Beth from moving on, he is instantly willing to place Beth’s needs above his own, and this more than anything else proves that he is willing to relinquish the more selfish aspects of his inner turmoil for her sake. By extension, this scene also proves that he will eventually find a way to reunite with the loved ones whom he has kept at arms’ length.