Consumption
Fire consumes the home of the couple at the center of this story. The ramifications of that arson and the reasons behind it figuratively consume the family and almost wind up completely tearing it apart. The novel ends with a less fire burning brightly associated with consumption: a backyard cookout with food from the grill. In between the large fire and the small fire are recurring images of consumption in both the literal and figurative sense from one son’s obsession with caviar to the references to fast food as metaphors for sexuality.
Sexuality
The opening scene of the book contains a very strange sex scene that combines an implicit fantasy of rape with a wife putting a knife to the throat of her husband. Right from the opening pages, the use of explicit sexual passages and scenes is disconnected from any sort of romantic intimacy and instead is used to convey barely contained emotional intensity related to just about every feeling other than intimacy. The characters often use sex as an attempt to make some sort of meaningful human contact, but in nearly every single instance the sex only serves to widen the distance between them.
Biblical Imagery
Nobody is particularly religious or seems very spiritual in this suburban neighborhood, but as the story progresses toward what almost comes to seem an inevitable conclusion, imagery associated with Christian redemption becomes vital. The central redemptive figure shares a name with the last of the Biblical judges and his brother is name after the Bible hero famous for walking into the lion's den, Daniel. Even more directly, Sammy winds up becoming a sacrificial lamb necessary to save the family from being completely consumed by selfishness of his parents.
The Police Robot TV Broadcast
An all-too-familiar criminal tragedy becomes the climax of the story in which Sammy’s life is put in mortal danger by a friend. His parents have abdicated the responsibility of their role in the child’s life, it is Daniel who steps into this lion’s den while all the other significant adults in the story watch the event play out life on TV through the camera of a police robot. The emotional, psychological, and physical disconnect from playing an active role in their children’s lives is made not just literally plain, but metaphorically obvious in this use of imagery.
