The Cigarette Lighter

The cigarette lighter symbolizes the evolution of the understanding of what happened to Lauren from both the reader’s perspective, as well as Jules' perspective. Jules first finds the cigarette lighter in Part 1, Section 1 and because of where she finds it, she assumes it is evidence of a lover. In Part 1, Section 2 Jules thinks the initials “LS” engraved on the side of the lighter represent Libby Seeton, the woman who drowned as a witch in 1679. Later however, Sean Townsend recounts his memory of his father burning his hand with the cigarette lighter after his mother died in order to force him to speak . Sean carried it as a token to remind himself to get over his grief, similar to the scar symbol in that it is a constant reminder of his mother’s death and the emotional and physical pain associated with it. Nickie...