Myth
The antagonist of the story is referred to only as “The Defendant” even though he is very clearly supposed to be notorious serial killer Ted Bundy. The narrator asserts that “Sometimes I think The Defendant is just another old wives’ tale.” That term is a metaphor for a myth that has developed over time to the point that it has, for perhaps a majority of people, taken on the aspect of irrefutable fact. In this particular case, two myths about the Bundy case in Florida are being debunked. One, that he was some sort of criminal mastermind. The other is related to the first: that this myth arose in part due to police trying to cover up the truth that it was sheer incompetence on their part rather than solid investigative work that caused Bundy to be captured in the first place.
Eyewitness
One of the two narrative voices in the novel is a fictionalized eyewitnesses to the multiple murders actually committed at the Chi Omega sorority house at FSU. “I was paralyzed by a hammering dread that still comes for me in my nightmares, locking my spine and vaporizing my scream in the sandpapered walls of my throat.” This metaphor-laden imagery conveys simultaneously the traumatic witnessing of the actual event that night and the recollections which have led to PTSD for the narrator. The language covers a range of metaphorical imagery forcing the reader to tangibly experience the effects of fear on the capacity for anatomical movement as well as the effect of fear on hearing sounds. The result is a visceral portrait of what is actually—both fictionally and historically—barely more than a moment in time.
Rogers
One of the historically accurate facts about the real Ted Bundy killings that is not as widely known as much of the myth is that there was absolutely no forensic evidence found to prove he was even in the sorority house the night of the killings. “Rogers were everywhere, reasonable-doubt scapegoats waiting in the wings for a case like this.” Roger is a fictional character based on an actual person who fit the only eyewitness description of the killer. The narrator expands this character into a pluralized metaphor for all the many alternative possible suspects that could cause a jury to return a not guilty verdict based on the reasonable doubt created by a lack of irrefutable forensic evidence left behind by the accused.
Memory
The narrator alludes to a famous work of art to enhance her emotional state. “I cast around for some kind of clue, but it was as if my memory had melted, like those clocks in the Dalí poster Denise had hung over her head.” The reference here is to the famous surrealist painting by Salvador Dali in which timepieces have lost their solidity and are hanging over tree limbs and desktops as if make of elastic material. This simile contains a subtle bit of irony since the painting is titled “The Persistence of Memory” and the narrator is at this moment struggling to recall someone she has not seen in decades.
Grief
The book’s secondary narrator is recalling the murder of her close friend several years earlier and on the opposite side of the country. “Grief is just like a sink full of dirty dishes or a pile of soiled laundry.” The focus of this narrative is the attempt to deal with the loss of a loved one to an infamous serial killer. The simile being used here suggests that the feelings of mourning the loss of someone—especially when there is not the usual closure afforded by most types of death—is not something that easily heals. The circumstances of such mourning require a concerted effort made all the more difficult because it is much more unpleasant.
