Penitence

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of substance use, addiction, child sexual abuse, child death, sexual assault, mental illness, child abuse, and illness. 

This novel’s examination of the complex nature of guilt and forgiveness is complex and connected both to its interrogation of the justice system and its depiction of fraught family dynamics. Each of the characters wrestles with both guilt and forgiveness, but Angie, Nora, and Julian stand out for the way that their stories speak to the novel’s larger thematic project. 

Angie is one of the novel’s most complex characters. Initially portrayed as a grieving mother struggling to forgive an incomprehensible act of violence, the narrative gradually reveals her as more morally complicated. At the beginning of the novel, it is evident that Nico was her favorite child and that she struggles to feel anything but anger for Nora. Although David, Martine, and even Julian feel compassion for Nora and worry that a juvenile detention facility is no place for such a young girl, Angie sees her as little more than a “criminal.” During one particularly heated conversation with David about Nora, she angrily tells him that “she’s not the victim” and that “no one has to be there for her” (29). At this point in the narrative, Angie has a black-and-white understanding of the difference between right and wrong. It isn’t until Angie’s past indiscretions are revealed that she begins to understand identity and personal choice in a more nuanced manner: Angie lied to both David and Julian about Nico’s true parentage. She deprived Julian of the right to have a relationship with his son and David the opportunity to choose whether he raised another man’s child. Angie realizes that, as Martine has been trying to explain to her, everyone can make bad choices, and no one is defined by the worst choices they have made. She realizes that everyone is deserving of forgiveness because no one is entirely without blame. Thus, she can forgive her daughter. 

Nora is also a complex character whose motives are never fully explained. Martine and Julian theorize at the end of the novel that Nico’s diagnosis was devastating to her and that it exacerbated her already difficult experiences with mental health. Because Angie was so focused on Nico, she missed key warning signs that Nora’s condition had worsened severely. Because Nora loved her brother so much, she likely wanted to prevent him from experiencing the slow mental and physical decline of which he openly admitted he was terrified. Because so much of the family attention was on Nico, Nora had no one to talk to, and in her impaired state, might have thought that a mercy killing was what Nico would want. Julian and Martine look at Nora’s case and see tragedy. They see a girl deserving of a second chance and fair treatment in the judicial system. They approach all their cases this way, and Nora’s cellmates exemplify why Julian and Martine are so adamant that even violent juvenile offenders deserve rehabilitative rather than punitive treatment: One of Nora’s cellmates was coerced into selling drugs for her primary caregiver, and the other killed her sexually abusive father. Each of these girls made bad choices, but they were also subject to adverse, predatory forces beyond their control. Julian and Martine argue that girls like this do not belong in traditional prisons. “Forgiveness” in this novel means alternatives to juvenile incarceration, including therapy and rehabilitative measures. 

Julian’s character arc speaks to both the novel’s interest in forgiveness as it relates to the justice system and individuals. He has spent the entirety of his career securing fair treatment for the kind of defendants that many in society write off. He approaches his cases with dignity and humanity and believes that no one should be defined by the worst parts of their identities. While his interest in removing bias and inequality from the justice system is rooted in part in his commitment to social and racial justice, it is also personal. Julian has never forgiven himself for Diana’s death. This has led to the misuse of alcohol throughout his life. It has also provided him with a heightened sense of empathy: Julian too knows what it is like to have made an irrevocable mistake. It is not until the end of the novel that he truly forgives himself for Diana’s death. Angie’s revelation allows him to understand that everyone is, at times, guilty. He was not the only one who made an error in judgment as a young person that had fatal consequences. He had been shouldering his guilt alone, but when he realizes that Angie too is guilty, he can finally forgive himself, move on, and prioritize healing.