What becomes evident about Faith's relationship with her father?

Faith's relationship with her parents is at the heart of this novel. The reader may have expected that Erasmus would have some natural tendency to defend Faith because he loves his daughter. Instead, it quickly becomes clear that he believes women are inferior and applies that belief to both his wife and his daughter. It is a statement of their relationship that he is willing to “forgive” Faith for her misdeeds when he needs her help to find the sea cave, and that she is willing to go with him and promises to keep it a secret, just because he asks her to.