42 pages • 1 hour read
H. D. CarltonWhere's Molly
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Coexistence of Beauty and Horror
Content Warning: This novel includes graphic violence, murder, sexual assault, sexual abuse, and drug overdose.
Beauty and horror in Where’s Molly? are often mutually dependent; each highlight the other. The setting of the novel in Reaper Canyon, Montana establishes a background of mountain ranges and nature, contrasted with the “Reaper” in the name, associated with death. Embodied in Molly’s character, the bitemark by her eye reminds her and others of the horrors she experienced, but it also highlights her green eyes, drawing attention to her beauty. The narrative itself plays with the ideas of beauty and horror in unconventional ways, such as the sexual encounters in Molly’s barn, where she and Cage are covered in the blood of a violent criminal while they explore each other’s bodies. The novel rejects traditional contrast of horror and beauty, instead mixing and juxtaposing the two alongside one another to suggest that appreciating beauty requires coming to terms with horror, too.
The key elements of horror and beauty in the text focus on Molly and Cage’s attraction for one another. Molly comments that Cage’s “beauty is wicked, and I hate the way it makes my heart flutter” (43), imbuing traditional attraction with the idea of evil or cruelty. Cage’s “wicked” beauty is the result of his violent nature, tamed and honed by his love for Molly, which creates a uniquely appealing character for Molly. Likewise, Cage notes of Molly, “when she begins to saw through the corpse’s head, I can’t help but feel my fascination with her deepening” (63), juxtaposing the blood and gore of dismembering a corpse with arousal and sexuality. In each case, Molly and Cage are not traditionally attracted to each other’s beauty, though that conventional beauty is present, as well. They focus additionally on the horrific elements of each other’s characters. Cage’s violent predisposition and Molly’s morbid occupation play key roles in their mutual attraction.
Out of the horrors of Cage and Molly’s lives, they manage to find a beautiful romance, creating an intertwining of beauty and horror in the narrative. Furthermore, Layla’s life, which is an idyllic adolescence with Margot and Colin, is only the result of the horrors from which Molly delivered Layla into Margot and Colin’s home. At the end of the novel, Molly is not reintroducing that horror into Layla’s life but completing the picture of Layla’s existence, allowing her to see how she, like Molly, can embrace both the horrors of their pasts and the beauty of their futures.
Transformation Through and in Spite of Trauma
Both Molly and Cage undergo transformations through their trauma; Molly must overcome her trauma to find inner stability and comfort in her life. While Cage experiences the trauma of losing his sister, he uses that trauma to spur on his career, dedicating himself to helping others. Molly, on the other hand, is weighed down by her trauma, fleeing intimacy and struggling to accept herself and her own desires. The conflict of trauma in the text is posed as both an impetus and an impediment to progress for these characters, both undermining their efforts at personal achievement and creating the necessary conditions for their development, highlighting the different ways in which trauma can impact a person’s life.
For both Molly and Cage, their relationship represents a unique opportunity to experience safe, comfortable intimacy with another person. Molly comments on how she has “gotten intimate with plenty of vibrators throughout the years, though I could never muster the courage to let another man touch me again” (77). This reflects the way Molly’s prior sexual trauma prevented her from expressing physical love with other men. Cage, however, provides a way for Molly to “feel what everyone else was feeling when they had sex—what normal people felt” (33), linking healthy sexuality to her conception of what it means to be “normal” and live without trauma. A critical moment in Molly’s transformation comes as Cage bites her scar, which he claims is to make Molly think of Cage when she looks at herself. Though this presents misogynistic dynamics of ownership, Carlton uses the transformation of one trauma into a positive experience to show that Molly is gradually overcoming the barriers built by her experience.
Though Cage manages to turn his trauma into a positive development for himself, Molly discovers that he is still tormented by Olivia’s death, allowing the two of them to help each other to overcome their traumas. For Molly, overcoming her trauma allows her to transform from a guarded, defensive character into an open and loving character at the end of the text, reaching out to Layla’s family and continuing her relationship with Cage. The final barrier to her trauma, Kenny Mathers, is appropriately resolved by Cage, ending the novel with a sense of fulfillment and completed transformation, allowing Molly to begin a new life with Cage and Layla.
The Narrow Line Between Obsession and Love
Molly and Cage have a romance that fits into the dark romance genre, since their love borders on obsession with one another. For Molly, this obsession is justified through her traumatic experiences, in which Cage is “the only man who made me feel something outside of bone-crushing terror” (45). For Cage, however, his obsessive love for Molly is often harmful, involving abusive tactics and patterns of behavior that connect with his violent nature. Nonetheless, Cage also shows his love through more stereotypical means, such as flowers, movies, and massages, which create a conflicting array of romantic actions and reactions across the text.
Silas reveals to Molly how Cage “never got over” her, noting how “he hasn’t been able to think of anyone else since. How every day, he would picture you showing back up in the store” (46). This is reminiscent of traditional love stories of endless love and doting. However, as their relationship progresses, Cage’s expressions of affection become tinged with violence, such as telling Molly: “I will claim every part of you, Molly. And that includes the pieces of you those fuckers tried to take from me” (167). Molly notes that the “pieces” were taken from her, not from Cage, to which Cage responds that he will “own you ever after you’ve disappeared” (167). Again, he moves into violent, possessive territory. This exchange blurs the line between love and obsession, allowing them to coexist within the specific relationship Cage and Molly are building. Cage’s desire to possess Molly is predicated on the assumption that Molly returns his feelings, changing the tone from one of threatening violence to jealous love.
Cage tests the boundaries of love and obsession when Molly “ghosts” him, showing up at her house, grabbing her, ignoring her requests to be let down and for him to leave, and forcing himself on her. These acts are clear violations of Molly’s will and desires, but Carlton frames them in light of Molly’s past trauma, which has made her afraid of intimacy. Instead of obsessive violence, Cage’s actions are reframed as therapeutic, forcing Molly to confront her own love for Cage and accept him into her life. Molly does accept Cage, admitting her fears of intimacy, though Cage retains his violent affection for Molly, ending the novel with a promise to kill anyone Molly wants. The novel hence suggests that the line between love and obsession is narrow, and while it ultimately implies that such obsession is romantic, it portrays harmful behaviors in doing so.
Related Titles
By H. D. Carlton
