You Belong Here

Beckett’s history collides with her present, and the tension is central to the narrative. As Delilah chooses to attend Wyatt College, Delilah forces Beckett to confront her past. Beckett admits, “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” (13). Had Beckett been honest, Delilah might have chosen a different college, so Beckett could have continued “avoiding” what happened. Instead, Beckett must face the town’s “memory.” The people haven’t “forgiven” her, and this leads the antagonists of the novel to punish Delilah and Beckett for the deaths that occurred 20 years ago. If Beckett had already atoned for the deaths, she could move on. The unresolved history constrains and threatens her present, which endangers Delilah, since Delilah is the focal point of her present-day life.

Unable to outmaneuver her past, it follows her into her private spaces. While Beckett’s parents haven’t changed Beckett’s childhood room, Beckett notices new notes on her walls: “Hey there, Delilah[.] I can still see you[.] Did you think you could hide?” (173). The menacing messages spotlight the collapsed boundaries between her history and current life.