Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the novel’s treatment of drug addiction and death by suicide.

“Nothing brings people together better than death. It’s like the sound of a high-pitched whistle for a dog that has strayed from its owner. When it happens, they always come.”

An anonymous narrative voice makes this observation in the book’s first pages. As is true of many of the quotes that follow, it can only be understood in hindsight. The Thomas siblings are estranged from one another, and no other event could bring them together but their mother’s death. By answering the summons, they will find their lives changed forever.

“The Grove still looks the same as I figured it would. Small towns don’t evolve. They don’t grow. They don’t change. They are what they’ve always been.”

Michael makes this comment upon returning to Allen’s Grove after a seven-year absence. His words describe a perpetual stasis, but he only sees the surface of the pond. Beneath, everything has changed. His parents went to great lengths to preserve the appearance of tranquility. They sacrificed their future growth so that Michael might have his.

“I wanted a fight, someone to blame, someone to be mad at. But little brother has outmatured me. I guess you can only grow so much when you’re stuck in the same place—like a house plant that’s never been repotted.”

Beth’s observation echoes Michael’s in the preceding quote. He sees stagnation in his hometown, and his elder sister agrees with him. However, she also applies that stagnation to herself, using a simile to compare herself to a root-bound plant. Beth is wrong in one respect: She attributes Michael’s calm response to emotional maturity, but this is the one form of growth that has eluded him.