45 pages • 1-hour read
We Are All Guilty Here
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual violence, child abuse, graphic violence, and death.
North Falls
The North Falls setting is a symbol of The Fragile Veneer of Small-Town Life. Located in Clifton County, Georgia, North Falls is home to “[f]ewer than a thousand” residents (16). The diminutive population offers the potential for a tight-knit community feel. As Adam Huntsinger says of the town culture, “North Falls people […] always protect their own” (361). This sense of undying loyalty between the townspeople suggests closeness, connection, and camaraderie. However, “there [are also] the busybodies who stared openly” at others even when it’s impolite because they “wanted more gossip” (17).
The town’s insular community thus creates secrecy and nosiness. Everyone knows who everyone is and therefore wants to know everyone else’s business. This aspect of the culture creates divisions between the North Falls residents. For example, Emmy Clifton often feels embarrassed, irritated, and withdrawn when she’s around everyone because she hates how much they know about her. It is a guaranteed facet of North Falls life, but Emmy does not appreciate the exposure that living in such a small place demands.
On their surface, the townspeople behave respectfully to each other but they often have secret agendas. The allegedly close-knit, safe, and trusted North Falls culture breeds a secret and violent underbelly. Characters like Dale Loudermilk, Walton Huntsinger, Elijah Walker, Reggie, and Virgil Ingram have all committed crimes they’ve managed to hide from their community. They outwardly present an aura of charm and well-meaning behavior, but are in fact grooming their neighbors to cover their violence and pedophilia.
Bikes
Madison’s, Cheyenne’s, and Paisley’s bikes are symbols of innocence. The girls are all young teenagers when they go missing. They rely on their bikes as their primary mode of transportation. Bicycles archetypally represent childhood and freedom. The recurring images of the girls’ bikes in We Are All Guilty thus underscores the three characters’ fragility and youth.
Further, all of the girls are hit by their attackers while riding their bikes. All of their bikes turn up broken and mangled. This recurring imagery is a motif for the loss of innocence. Walton, Virgil, and Dale exploit and abuse Madison’s, Cheyenne’s, and Paisley’s innocence. They attack and rob them of their childhoods. The bike imagery echoes these subtextual notions.
Clifton House
Emmy and her family’s house is a symbol of family history and speaks to The Impact of the Past on the Present. Emmy has lived here all her life with Gerald and Myrna. She grew up an only child because her brother Tommy is so much older than her and because she’s been led to believe that her sister Martha—who is in fact Jude Archer—died along with her twin, Henry. However, her childhood home stores the truth of her family’s past.
Indeed, when Jude returns home to North Falls after more than 20 years away, she is immediately overcome by memories of her family history. Her response to the space upon her return underscores the house’s emotional impact on her: “Jude had the sense of a trespasser. She was standing behind her old chair at the table, but she couldn’t remember the last time she was in this exact spot” (291). Jude feels like an intruder because it has been so long since she has been there. She fears that because she has missed so much of her family’s life in the meantime, that she is no longer a part of their family history. Returning to the family home thus forces her to confront the dark secrets of her past.
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