The List: A Novel

“And, of course, #BLOCKEDT, the weapons-grade phone restriction app she’d recently installed to keep her off apps in the morning, since she was probably addicted to apps.”

#BLOCKEDT reveals Ola’s attempts to control how the internet shapes her reality. The apps on her phone expose her to various parts of the internet on a daily basis, so in order to limit her vulnerability to those spaces and to regain some control of her world, she blocks them in the morning. This early statement foreshadows the profound effect that negative online attention will soon wreak upon her life.

“Thank you to all who submitted. We created this account as official channels continue to fail survivors of abuse in the media and entertainment industries. We have no choice but to do something ourselves.”

The pinned tweet on The List’s Twitter account bolsters the theme of Justice and the #MeToo Movement. This passage asserts that because survivors of sexual assault cannot count on “official channels” to punish predators, women must create new forms of justice. The tweet therefore sets the stage for the complex backlash that Michael and Ola will soon have to navigate.

“But she had dedicated the best part of a decade to rallying against patriarchy, rape culture, and toxic masculinity […] She wasn’t the type of person to miss the red flags and make the mistake of being with someone capable of that behavior.”

In this passage, it becomes clear that Ola’s personal life, professional life, and activism are blurring together. Her feminist stance informs her work, and both her political views and her occupation carry over into her personal life, leaving her to question her judgment and whether she missed a “red flag” concerning Michael.