Watch Me

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of disordered eating, graphic violence, illness, and death.

Rosa, one of the protagonists and first-person narrators, lives on Ark Island with her younger sister Clara, in a life of starvation and hardship. They were cast out to the pit after their father betrayed the Reestablishment and have lived with that punishment ever since. Her mother’s death by suicide, as a result of discovering that her husband had committed treason, has left Rosa and Clara to suffer the consequences. This event deeply affects Rosa, who frequently repeats to herself, “I’ve been dead inside for years” (12), demonstrating the weight of her trauma.

Rosa has strikingly pale skin, beautiful features, and light hair, but is also malnourished and painfully fragile. Her appearance acts in direct contrast to her life as someone who kills others. Her only concern in life is her sister, and she believes that by obeying orders and succeeding in assassin missions, she will eventually be released and allowed to live again. Rosa’s defining trait is her ability, throughout the novel, of Redefining Survival as Resistance, as she carries on despite everything she has been through. Regardless of her small frame or lack of nutrition, Rosa powers through difficult and physically demanding tasks like being plunged into the cradle.