When the Wolf Comes Home

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child death, child abuse, and cursing.

“Inner Jess changes tactics.

I think we all know the reason why no one wants you.

[…]

It’s because you’re just like him.”

This passage cements Jess’s inner voice—known as Inner Jess—as a motif for The Struggle to Be Brave and Navigating Familial Cycles of Violence. In the previous chapter, Inner Jess was introduced as a manifestation of Jess’s grief for her estranged father, Tommy. This passage shows how Jess’s inner voice weaponizes that grief and brings Jess’s insecurities to the fore. For Jess to develop as a character, she must learn to push back against Inner Jess’s assertions.

“That right there, my friend, is an invisibility blanket. Do you know what invisible means? It means, whenever you’re scared, if you hide under this blanket? The things you’re scared of can’t see you.”

This passage helps to define the nuances of the boy’s ability, which is triggered as a response to fear. Cassidy builds upon this speculative element by clarifying that the boy’s ability has less to do with fear than it does with belief. This is confirmed later on when the blanket works exactly as described by Margie in this passage.

“Your dad was a bad guy; I get it. And I definitely know what it’s like to build up your dad in your head. But…daddies are just people. Your daddy’s just a person.”

Although Jess has yet to realize the connection between Calvert’s transformation into the creature and the boy’s fear of him, this passage represents Jess’s first attempt to guide the boy using insight gleaned from her own experience. Jess tries to reassure the boy that his father is nothing more than another person—something she struggles to believe in her own feelings toward Tommy.