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Important Quotes
Content Warning: This section of the guide contains depictions of death, violence, harassment, and bullying.
“I should have told her the truth. Or at least the parts that mattered. The reasons I’d spent so many years avoiding this place. The town has a long memory. Not everyone has forgiven.”
(Part 1, Chapter 1, Page 13)
The quote brings together the three key themes of History’s Impact on the Present, Confronting Truths Versus Perpetuating Secrets, and The Subjective Nature of Justice. As Wyatt Valley’s residents have a “long memory,” Beckett’s fraught history continues to impact the present, which is only true because of the lack of justice Beckett faced 20 years ago. This makes her and Delilah vulnerable. Adding to Delilah’s precarity is Beckett’s choice to not tell her daughter the entire truth, a decision that will affect them and their relationship throughout the story.
“The students all knew the rules, passed down in whispers: Don’t get caught by the seniors in masks. Don’t be last. Don’t be scared. Don’t cry for help. Don’t, don’t, don’t.”
(Part 1, Interlude 1, Page 40)
The imagery of the students passing along “the rules” in whispers underpins the dark academia genre. The howling is inherently scary and transgressive, so they can’t speak about it openly on campus. More so, the repetition of “don’t” advances the negative aspects of the tradition, as the students “don’t” gain anything; they just avoid getting caught. This all presents the prestigious university as a tense setting full of consequence.
