Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead

“My mom will understand. She’ll probably even pack you some turkey and pie to go.”

Finn’s certainty of her mother’s reaction to Vero suddenly deciding to leave the Thanksgiving celebration is a testament to Susan’s motherly love—for both Finn and Vero. This helps characterize Susan as a warm and understanding person and supports both the motif of motherly love and the theme of Women’s Networks of Support.

“My thoughts drifted to that stupid pink trowel above the workbench in my garage—the only tool Steven had bothered to leave on the pegboard when he’d moved out. I thought about all those empty pegs and dust-filled drawers. About the lengths Vero and I had gone to just to find a damn shovel to bury a body.”

Finn’s musings about the missing tools focus on the only tool that Steven left for her: a pink trowel, its color symbolic of femininity and its size inadequate for the challenges that Finn faces. The fact that the only tool he left her is functionally useless illustrates what Steven thinks of her and his typical underestimation of her. The comic surprise of what Finn specifically needed tools for—to bury a body—signals that Finn is a determined and capable woman who will find a way to thrive regardless of the obstacles put in her way, supporting the novel’s theme of The Necessity of Resilience and Determination.

“If Vero had asked me a year ago, I would have said it was Steven’s charm, his drive, his confidence. But hindsight had clarified so many things about our relationship. I sighed. ‘He was good at making me feel like I needed him.’”

Finn’s use of parallel structure and asyndeton in her list of former beliefs about Steven conveys the way that these now-meaningless phrases pile up in her mind, nothing but excuses to deny the truth. Given her new understanding of both Steven and herself in the wake of their divorce, she has to accept that he manipulated her just as he manipulated Theresa, Bree, and many other women. Her blunt honesty demonstrates both her growth and how much she trusts Vero with her feelings, illustrating the importance of women’s networks of support in Finn’s life.

“I swallowed hard against the memories of dead bodies. Of the weight of a man’s life. Of endless hours of shoveling by moonlight.”

The anaphora and sentence fragments that Finn uses, as she recalls burying Harris’s body during her previous adventure with Vero, create a staccato tone that emphasizes the emotional horror of the experience. Finn is still traumatized by burying Harris, demonstrating that despite her sometimes-flippant remarks about murder and her penchant for rushing into danger, she is very troubled by violence and well aware of its consequences. Although, overall, the novel is humorous in tone, in this quote, Finn fully recognizes the dark nature of what she’s involved in.

“I get it; she’s my best friend. But no matter how badly she screwed up, she always will be.”

Aimee’s defense of her bond with Theresa makes it clear that nothing will come between the two women and that friendship like this sometimes requires forgiveness and understanding. This supports the text’s theme of women’s networks of support and foreshadows the way that Finn will eventually need to offer the same understanding to her own best friend, Vero, when she learns how Vero has messed up financially.

“‘I’m plotting Steven’s murder.’

‘Thank you, baby Jesus, it’s about damn time.’”

Vero’s sardonic sense of humor is on display as she pretends to misinterpret Finn’s use of the word “plotting” and thanks Jesus, a religious figure commonly associated with compassion and love, for supposedly inspiring Finn’s decision to kill. Finn’s diction is an unintentional pun, and she means “plotting” in the literary sense: She intends to use her skills as a writer to consider Steven’s potential murder as a series of connected actions. Vero pretends that Finn means “plotting” in the sense of “planning to carry out” Steven’s murder.

“This trailer held everything Steven had worked for, and it was going up in flames before my eyes.”

Despite the grave danger that she and Vero are in, Finn hesitates before fleeing the burning trailer. This moment illustrates how intimately bound she still is to Steven and how compassionate Finn is: Before saving her own life, she stops to think about whether she can save anything of Steven’s from the flames.

“I was full of far too many surprises. And I was certain they weren’t the kind Nick was hoping for.”

Finn’s thoughts demonstrate awareness of the irony of her position: While engaging in illicit activities and unintentionally implicating herself in the firebombing of Steven’s trailer, she is being romantically pursued by a police detective. This illustrates the novel’s theme of the irony and absurdity of life. Her wry commentary about the difference between his expectations and her reality also shows that she does genuinely worry about how the truth might impact Nick, reinforcing the text’s characterization of her as an ethical person.

“Later, I would ask Vero where she’d spent her Thanksgiving. And why things seemed so tense between her and Ramón. All I wanted to do now was take a bottle of bleach to my hands and wipe away any traces of the dead man whose thawing parts were currently rolling around in trash bags in Vero’s trunk.”

Finn is aware of the many troubling clues that Vero is keeping secrets from her. She is concerned for her friend but distracted by more pressing issues—like the dead body they have taken from the West Virginia storage unit. Finn’s comically vivid image of the man’s “thawing body part […] rolling around in trash bags” is typical of the wry tone she uses to create ironic distance from troubling events. Her desire to bleach her hands shows how upsetting these events are to her, demonstrating the way that events seem to constantly spiral out of her control and supporting the theme of the irony and absurdity of life.

“Was I having a heart attack? This must be a heart attack.”

The way that events tend to spiral out of control in Finn’s life is perfectly illustrated in the moment that she realizes that Nick is coming over to take her out on a date—one she is not even sure she wants to go on—and that she has part of a dead body thawing in her garage. She is so stressed that she feels as if she is having a heart attack; the repetition of the idea in back-to-back short sentences mimics her racing mind and emphasizes her panic.

“Perfect. The three most compelling pieces of evidence they’d found were left by me and Vero.”

Finn’s sarcasm is directed at herself. She is irritated because she realizes that she and Vero have created the mess they find themselves in. She uses her characteristic wry tone to create ironic distance, allowing her to comment humorously on what is actually a very serious situation. The fact that, although she and Vero are innocent of the arson, the case’s evidence all points to her and Vero is another demonstration of the irony and absurdity of life.

“Then I fixed myself a cup of coffee strong enough to raise the dead. I had eight hours until morning. Eight hours to start drafting a sample of my story. Eight hours to figure out how to delete my posts from the forum and what to do with Carl. And maybe, if I was lucky, a few precious hours to sleep.”

This moment clearly illustrates the time pressure that Finn faces. The anaphora of the repeated “eight hours” creates rhythm and emphasis that piles up like the responsibilities are piling up on her. Still, instead of just giving up, she makes herself some strong coffee and gets down to work, showing the necessity of resilience and determination.

“I tried to relax into him, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I shouldn’t be. The closed door. Their stares and laughter. The fact that none of them knew my name or who I was. It all pointed to the fact that I didn’t belong here.”

Although Finn is not aware of it at the moment, this is the turning point in her relationship with Julian. After it is made clear to her that she does not have any real place in Julian’s world, their relationship is all but over, making it clear how the story will resolve the secondary conflict of Finn’s choice between Julian and Nick.

“With a feral yell, I raised the plunger over my head and leapt into the hall.”

In a moment that encapsulates the irony and absurdity of life, Finn finds herself confronting Nick dripping wet, dressed only in a too-small Disney princess towel, and wielding a plunger as a weapon. The word “feral” conveys her determination and courage as she prepares to confront what she believes is a dangerous intruder, but it becomes comical in conjunction with the image of her holding a plunger overhead. The scene conveys how Finn’s general disorganization and impulsivity, when combined with the pressures she is under and her relative lack of resources, create ridiculous outcomes despite her best intentions, while the imagery contributes to the comic tone of the novel.

“My mouth went dry…I’d never lied to him like this before.”

Finn feels so guilty about lying to Julian that she has a physical reaction, a small piece of sensory imagery that conveys the depth of her distress. Her lie is designed to protect him from being complicit in the crime that she is about to commit, but she still feels terrible. This kind of detail helps portray Finn’s strong moral sense and shows that she does not do things like impersonate Kat because she enjoys breaking the law—she sees them as necessary to accomplish a higher moral purpose.

“I clung to my messenger bag. The papers inside were copies of Vero’s last accounting exam. Delia had scribbled smiley faces on them with watercolor markers, and I was pretty sure the green blob was a booger of Zach’s.”

The detailed image of the contents of the messenger bag creates a comic juxtaposition with Finn’s disguise as the glamorous and intimidating attorney Kat, supporting the text’s theme of the irony and absurdity of life. It also symbolically conveys Finn’s source of strength in trying situations: Although she is nervous about impersonating Kat and being alone with Feliks, three of the most important people in her life—Vero, Zach, and Delia—are “with” her in this moment, in the form of the messenger bag and its contents.

“The van had grown uncomfortably warm, and I dragged the wig from my head. My wet shoes stuck to the blisters on my feet. I was drenched through my clothes, and all I wanted was to go home.”

This vivid image of Finn following her impersonation of Kat and Steven’s accusatory phone call conveys how hard she is working to help Steven, despite his treatment of her. She is wet and exhausted, and all she can think about is getting home for some rest. Cosimano uses dramatic words like “dragged” and “drenched” to emphasize the depth of Finn’s discomfort.

“I’m not walking away just because shit gets messy. Your missing lawyer should have shown up for you tonight.”

Nick’s comments show that, like Finn, he sees the necessity of resilience and determination. Like Parker, he can see that Finn’s life is chaotic and that being in a relationship with her might mean getting involved in her messes—but while Parker sees this as a reason to warn Finn away from Julian, Nick sees it as simply another part of caring about Finn. He has already sacrificed for her, and he will continue to do so—he is determined to show up for her over and over, a characteristic that shows how his perseverance matches Finn’s own.

“‘Wait,’ I said, twisting in my seat, ‘you’re telling me you catfished your own friend into sending you nudes, just so you could charge him to clean up the mess?’”

The revelation that Cam solicited the nude photos of the mall tech repair clerk in the first place illustrates the irony and absurdity of life. As the story’s only real depiction of a male friendship, it also creates a sharp contrast with the friendships among women in the novel, emphasizing the quality of women’s networks of support. Finn is astonished because, unlike Vero and Finn, Theresa and Aimee, and Finn’s, Theresa’s, and Bree’s relationships with the women in their families, Cam’s friendship is marked by self-interest and betrayal rather than unquestioning mutual support.

“‘That’s enough!’ Mrs. Westover shouted. The rest of us stilled, stunned silent by the sudden appearance of her mom-voice.”

Even though all four younger women at the table are fully grown adults—one with children of her own—when Mrs. Westover shouts at them, they are instantly stilled by her “mom-voice.” The hissing sound of the sibilance of the many “s” sounds in the sentence reinforces the impact of Mrs. Westover’s tone. This moment reinforces the text’s motif of maternal love by demonstrating how instantly respectful the women are when someone uses such a voice on them. The fact that they have just been arguing about the appropriateness of Theresa having dismembered her own stepfather and Vero’s veiled insult about Theresa having an affair with Finn’s husband reinforces the theme of the irony and absurdity of life.

“In some ways, Steven would always be a constant in my life, too, but he wasn’t a net I could fall safely back on […] And if I had to pick a safe name of my own—someone I could count on to stick beside me, no matter how messy my life got—it’d be Vero’s.”

After Steven explains why he uses Finn’s name as his security system safe word, Finn realizes that Steven could never function in this way for her in return. Finn’s metaphor—of people as safety nets—demonstrates that she understands, finally, that she deserves more security and support than Steven has offered her. Vero’s unquestioning loyalty and reliable presence are her new standard, and her choice of Vero rather than Nick at this moment demonstrates the importance to Finn of women’s networks of support.

“I knew, maybe better than anyone, that some stories have a way of getting stuck inside our heads. Usually, because we were afraid of what those stories revealed about us—our fears and our inadequacies, our mistakes and our failures.”

Finn wants to help Vero both because she cherishes Vero’s friendship and because she has empathy for Vero. Her thoughts reveal the distance she has traveled, emotionally, since Steven first left her—she is finally coming to understand that she deserves better treatment and that her insecurities led her to accept less than what she needs. She does not want Vero to develop these kinds of insecurities and start valuing herself less as a result—Finn knows all too well how hard this is to recover from.

“No, we’re more than that, Vero. We’re partners. Friends make mistakes. Partners face them together.”

Finn finally asks Vero to trust her with the secret that she has been keeping for the entire length of the novel. Finn’s diction—referring to Vero as her “partner”—makes it clear that the novel’s secondary conflict related to the romantic choice between Julian and Nick is very secondary in Finn’s life. It is Vero that Finn trusts the most and Vero to whom she is willing to link her fate in the way that partners do. This moment stresses the role that women’s networks of support play in Finn’s life.