Good Intentions Are Not Enough

The exploration of characters with good intentions within the novel presents several personalities as complex and multifaceted.

Avery pays particular attention to her own privilege and status as the daughter of a wealthy senator. As she learns more about the adoptions that took place within the TCHS, Avery begins to draw comparisons between her social position and that of the parents who bought children from Miss Tann years ago. She notes that while the parents who adopted children had the best intentions to give disadvantaged children a decent upbringing, they simultaneously were complicit in forcing those same children away from their biological families, causing intense pain and suffering. Avery suspects that those families must have at least been slightly aware of what was going on behind the scenes. She thinks, "No doubt some were well-meaning people and some of the children really...