Tourist Season

Harper and Nolan’s involvement in Cape Carnage life develops the novel’s theme of The Importance of Resolving the Past for Self-Reinvention. Both Harper and Nolan convince themselves that because Cape Carnage is so minuscule and quaint, the community makes the perfect hiding place for their dark identities. Carnage’s culture is uncannily quirky, making the place appear divorced from any reality beyond the town line. Harper especially wants to believe she is safe in Carnage because she wants the town to distance her from her old self. Ever since killing the real Harper Starling on her way to Maine, Harper has been “careful to do everything [she] could to not leave a trail” that connects her past self to her new self (196). However, in these chapters, her old identity comes directly into conflict with the new life she is trying to lead, demonstrating that she won’t be able to fully move forward until she has resolved her past trauma.

These chapters also delve further into Harper’s relationship with Arthur. She has had Arthur Lancaster’s protection over the past four years; Arthur is Harper’s archetypal guide. Because he has a dark past, too, he identifies with Harper and offers her connection, camaraderie, and direction in the present. He knows and keeps her secret in exchange for her loyalty and secrecy. Just as Harper thinks that hiding behind Arthur will remake her into a person disconnected from the girl she once was, Nolan similarly believes that spending time in Carnage won’t have any repercussions. He is cavalier about his interactions with Sam, Vinny, and Sheriff Yates, never suspecting these small-town characters could delve into and excavate the truth of his fraught past. For Harper and Nolan, it’s easy to regard Carnage as a community where no one even believes in the possibility of violence, secrecy, and deception. Harper and Nolan want to believe that they can pose as friendly, naively optimistic small towners to hide their true natures, not realizing that the town itself has dark secrets that mirror their own.

Sam’s continuing interference in Cape Carnage unsettles Harper and Nolan’s security and destabilizes their developing romantic connection. The scene where Harper and Nolan attend the play conveys Sam’s threatening effect on the lovers’ developing relationship and life together. The play is emblematic of life in Carnage: Townspeople, neighbors, and friends are gathering together to support the actors and share in this theatrical performance. Sam’s appearance at the play upsets Harper’s evening and elicits a physiological reaction: “Breaths shudder in my lungs as I weave through the patrons […] My hands are shaking. Sweat itches at the nape of my neck. I suck in air like I’m drowning, trying to calm my raging pulse” (231-32). Harper can’t breathe, struggles to walk, and starts itching and shaking as a result of Sam’s threatening comments toward her. Harper also likens her fear and anxiety to the feeling of “drowning” and describes her pulse as “raging”; this figurative language affects notions of death, anger, and fire. Sam is intruding upon her tenuous peace of mind through his insistence on uncovering the past; he is actively dismantling her emotional stability and thus her sense of safety in Carnage. Sam has a similar impact on Nolan’s psyche. After their date, Nolan has “a restless sleep. All I can think about is Harper. How Sam is getting too close to her. And why” (261). Sam consumes both Nolan’s and Harper’s minds, and their bodies react strongly to him, responding in a “fight-or-flight” mode. Small-town life no longer seems as safe and insular as the characters thought, and these chapters further both their character arcs by forcing them to begin to confront the past.

Harper and Nolan’s fearful states of mind further the novel’s explorations of Healing From Past Trauma Together. Years have passed since Harper was kidnapped and Nolan’s brother died, but time has not healed their respective wounds. Harper and Nolan are avoidant characters who have pushed their pain aside, convincing themselves that harboring secrets and embracing violence can numb their pain. Instead, their emotional wounds fester, manifesting as physical restlessness and psychological turmoil. The past continues to haunt them and starts to resurface in the present. An increased number of allusions to Adam and Billy throughout these chapters formally enacts how Harper and Nolan’s past traumas are impacting their psyches. Harper feels as if she is reliving her trauma when she merely walks into Arthur’s garage, while Nolan continues to have nightmares about the hit-and-run accident. Such flashback moments underscore the lasting psychological effects of trauma on the individual, while the fact that Nolan and Harper begin to lean on each other for support stresses the importance of love and support in healing and growth.