Spells for Forgetting

August is the second protagonist of Spells for Forgetting. His perspective opens the novel, positioning him as both a local and an outsider. Structurally, August’s perspective provides a way to experience the magic and oppression of the island for the first time. Once on the island, he is aggressively unwelcome but also shares a long and complex history with the island’s residents.

Prior to the start of the novel, August experienced abuse from many people in his community, most notably his grandfather. When he returns to the island, he experiences emotional and psychological abuse from the people who want to shut him out. These experiences shape his perception of the world, which powers his loss of control with Dutch. These experiences also contribute to the fear of intimacy, which draws him away from Emery for 14 years. Eventually, he overcomes the effects of these experiences and grows into a happier version of himself.

Within the community, August also represents the ruling class. His family is wealthy and deeply influential, and he has felt that his path is set out for him from the moment of his birth. This puts him in sharp juxtaposition with Dutch, whose future is murky and unstable. However, August despises his family heritage, viewing it as a limitation that prevents him from finding his own way. By the end of the novel, his family heritage nearly becomes his downfall: Only by severing himself from it forever is he finally free.

Dutch is a morally ambiguous character who swings between hero and villain. Like August, he pushes back against the social role that was set for him. While August comes under suspicion because of his family’s history of violence, Dutch is looked down upon for coming from a line of social failures. His father, who had a substance use disorder, moved from one job to another, unable to effectively provide for his family or establish himself as a respected member of society. Dutch carries this unfortunate legacy with him through his teenage years and into adulthood.

When August left Saoirse Island, it provided an unexpected opening for Dutch to slip into his role, both professionally and personally. He filled August’s place in Emery’s life and became a more malleable overseer of the Salt orchard. However, he’s unable to stand up to his predecessor in either capacity. When August returns, Dutch feels threatened and begins lashing out. He confronts Emery about the status of their relationship, which pushes her further away.

Dutch is also quick to grow defensive, as illustrated in his relationship with Lily. He’s intelligent enough to be aware of the way people see him, and he feels trapped in his disappointing self-image. He attempts to rectify this by exerting dominance over others. However, he’s always one step behind, at the mercy of others’ deference and pity.

Lily is removed from the story before the start of the novel, yet her presence plays a pivotal role in the events of the plot. Lily is shown through memories, flashbacks, and the exposition of other characters. She has close relationships with Emery, August, and Dutch.

Unlike the other central characters, Lily never has the chance to grow up. While Emery, August, and Dutch are able to look back on their youthful mistakes through the lens of experience and time, Lily is immortalized as a teenage girl. As such, she embodies a range of contrasts. In some ways, she begins maturing faster than Emery, experiencing her first sexual encounter and keeping secrets at an earlier age than Emery. However, she has a narrower perspective and can’t stand the idea of Emery and August growing up without her. Like Dutch, she falls into a more passive role in the group dynamics and tries to elevate herself by exerting power over Dutch and pretending to be with August. These combined personality traits make her an easy target for Leoda, who uses her personal grief as a way to remove an external obstacle.

One of Lily’s defining features is her impulsivity, which arises in both positive and negative contexts. In some ways, her impulsivity draws Emery to her and makes them an effectively balanced pair. However, it also pushes her to dark thoughts and actions, most notably planning to murder her best friend in a fit of panic and loss. Following her death, she becomes a plot device that forces August from the island, eventually leading to the theft of his family’s land. Even though she’s no longer alive in the present-day storyline, her memory, influence, and unresolved death pervade every action that the remaining characters take.

Leoda is the novel’s primary antagonist, although this isn’t made clear until the story’s climax. She is one of the most driven characters in the story, with a clear, concrete objective that she devotes her entire life to. Emery initially sees Leoda as a maternal figure and carries happy memories of working in her shop during the summers.

Leoda’s greatest perceived threat is the Salt family. She views them as less than human, a contagion to be snuffed out to restore order to the island. Both Calvin and Henry Salt were abusive, power-hungry men who infected the lives of those around them. Henry deliberately kept the dynamics of power on the island weighed in his favor, and Leoda sees the extermination of his family as a way to restore balance. However, she descends too far into obsession of this belief system and ultimately ends up losing her humanity.

Her interactions with the other members of the town council are calculated and manipulative; she isolates each one’s weakness and designs her plans to overcome them. This displays a high intelligence and strength of mind, even though these traits aren’t used positively. Leoda becomes so lost in the pursuit of her goals and her hatred of the Salt family that she begins to lose sight of what she was initially fighting for. When Emery challenges Leoda about her part in Lily’s death, Leoda responds that her granddaughter “was the sacrifice the island required” (340). By this point, she is engulfed in hatred. The revelation of her actions also helps to redeem Lily’s choices that involved Emery and August, as it becomes clear that she was being manipulated by a higher power.