The Locked Door

“As I contemplate my next move, a thought flits through my head. One that I have not infrequently when I’m in difficult situations.

What would my father do?

I always have that thought, as much as I try not to.”

Throughout the novel, Nora fears that she has inherited her father’s violent tendencies and psychopathy, introducing the theme of The Tensions Between Nature and Nurture. This passage suggests that, although she shares her father’s impulses, she can resist them in ways that he did not.

“She is such a mom. Like if you were reading a book about a mom, she’d probably be like my mom. Every night she cooks dinner for us, makes sure I do all my homework, and cleans the house herself, top to bottom.”

This passage comes from a chapter narrated by 11-year-old Nora and reflects the immature tone that Freida McFadden uses to distinguish between adult and child Nora. The fact that Nora’s mother cleans the house “top to bottom” also suggests that she may have known her husband’s secrets in the basement.

“I wish I knew before the surgery. I wish I knew when his abdomen was sliced open and he was under anesthesia. One slip of his knife and I could have nicked his bowel. If I had done that, he wouldn’t be smacking around his wife. He would be experiencing a world of hurt right now.”

This passage, in which Nora considers harming a patient she believes is abusive, is the first explicit indication that Nora shares her father’s violent tendencies. Although the novel suggests that these tendencies are not necessarily inherited, at the end of the novel, it is revealed that Nora helped the patient’s wife to kill him.