Power and Beauty

The novel explores the lure of power and its relationship to both patriarchy and beauty. Georgia is the protagonist, and she has volition of her own, but she is devoid of any true power aside from her beauty, which is defined and ascribed by the patriarchy. The first time anyone ever tells Georgia she is beautiful is when she is 13 and Matthew picks her up on the side of the road where Ashley’s body is later found: “It was the first time I saw the truth of myself. I saw it because Matthew Hayes had made note of it, told me to make note of it, and told me, always, to remember it: beautiful. I was beautiful. It was such a relief” (48). Georgia does not become obsessed with her looks until Matthew plants the seed in her head that she is beautiful and...