False Witness

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Epigraph-Chapter 5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapter 16-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Themes

The Futility of Trying to Escape the Past

This theme is introduced immediately in the book’s epigraph: “The past is never where you think you left it” (0). Epigraphs don’t connect to the story directly but often allude to a thesis, mood, or theme of the work. In this case, the epigraph foreshadows the central theme of the novel, that it’s futile trying to run from the past as Leigh and Callie try to do. Ultimately, the past catches up with them and threatens the present: Their loved ones are endangered; their buried trauma resurfaces; Leigh is blackmailed to do things that may make her lose her license and go to jail. The past comes back to haunt Callie and Leigh in the form of Andrew/Trevor and the videotapes, a tangible representation of the way the past lingers on in the present. The book ultimately argues that past traumas need to be dealt with head-on, or they can haunt you forever.

One way traumas haunt characters in the novel is in the mental health struggles both sisters experience. Although Callie and Leigh would clearly rather forget the trauma they experienced because of Buddy, they are unable to. Callie self-medicates with drugs, while Leigh adopts self-destructive behaviors in reaction to her trauma and guilt. Callie articulates the parallel when she thinks:

If Callie had a needle fixation, Leigh had a chaos fixation. Her big sister longed for the calm normalcy of life with Walter and Maddy, but every time she reached a certain level of tranquility, she found a way to blow it up. Over the years, Callie had watched the pattern play out dozens of times (208).

While Leigh may initially seem like she’s in a better place than Callie, it becomes clear over the course of the novel that her conception of herself as a bad, guilty person has kept her from being able to accept the happy life with her family she so desires. Instead, she looks for ways to destroy it, convinced she doesn’t deserve good things.

Callie and Leigh can only move on once they’ve confronted the issues of their past. For Leigh, this means confessing to Callie that Leigh herself was one of Buddy’s victims and getting absolution from her sister. For Callie, the confrontation is more literal; it’s a life-or-death showdown with Andrew/Trevor. After this, Callie is able to die in peace:

Callie thought about Kurt Cobain. He wasn’t waiting for her anymore. He was here, talking to Mama Cass and Jimi Hendrix, laughing with Jim Morrison and Amy Winehouse and Janis Joplin and River Phoenix. […] Callie knew that she belonged (424).

This peace is only possible once the past has been addressed.

The Pervasive Nature of Misogyny and Violence Against Women

Pervasive misogyny and violence against women are the other primary themes in the book. The most obvious example is Andrew/Trevor and the violent acts he undertakes against women. These acts are described in graphic detail, which may help to drive home the horrific nature of misogyny, presenting it in a tangible and gory way. The patterns of Andrew/Trevor’s escalation also hint at the danger of misogyny. Andrew/Trevor goes from generally disrespecting women to raping them and, finally, raping and killing one. The book argues that misogyny is pervasive in society and, unchecked, can grow. It can even become contagious.

This is seen in the many characters who are complicit in the more aggressive misogyny of, first, Buddy and, later, Andrew/Trevor. Buddy has friends who literally watch videotapes of him raping Callie and do nothing about it. Meanwhile, Reggie is a sounding board for Andrew/Trevor’s misogyny and seems happy to cover for his “buddy” as long as Andrew/Trevor is paying him. Leigh remarks on this type of complicit boys’ club when she notes, “No matter what happened to women, men always, always covered each other’s asses” (98). Leigh is enraged by the rampant misogyny she sees, and when she kills Buddy, she thinks, “She was finally doing to a man the same fucking thing that men had been doing to Harleigh and Callie for their entire fucking lives” (104).

Even minor male characters in the book exhibit some level of casual misogyny. Cole Bradley is a prime example when he refers to rape victims as “exposure”:

‘Apparently, a guilty admission on this particular reduced charge could lead to further exposure.’

[…]

Leigh asked, ‘How much exposure?’

‘Two, possibly three.’

Women, she thought. Two or three more women who had been raped (37).

Leigh names what “exposure” really means—women. Humans. People. The dismissive, dehumanizing language speaks to the deep roots of misogyny, which infiltrate every level of society, even language. It is telling that Leigh, a woman, is the only person in her law firm who truly reckons with the crimes Andrew/Trevor has committed by examining the graphic evidence against him. The men at her law firm would rather not have to think of Tammy as human.

The theme of misogyny is not laid to rest in a satisfying way by the book’s end. Andrew/Trevor is dead and, in a small way, justice has been served. However, other men like Reggie and Buddy’s friends are still free. This lack of resolution highlights the book’s thematic argument that misogyny is so pervasive, it’s incredibly difficult to combat.

The Bonds Forged Through Shared Trauma

Sisters Leigh and Callie are intensely loyal to one another. However, their loyalty seems to go beyond the fact that they’re related. Rather, they have bonded over the shared trauma in their past. Not only did Callie and Leigh have an abusive and neglectful mother, but they were also both assaulted by Buddy. They both experienced the trauma of Buddy’s murder, which seems to bind them more especially tightly, as it is a secret no one else knows (or so they think).

The trauma that Leigh and Callie experienced as children is infused with guilt, which further cements their bond. Leigh feels guilty because she gave Callie COVID (which almost killed her) and because she knew that Buddy was an abuser before Callie babysat for him. Leigh tells herself, “[She] was responsible for this. She had protected herself from Buddy, but then she had put Callie directly in his path” (94). Later, she tells Walter, “I knew that it was my fault. I pimped out my own sister to a pedophile” (290). Although Walter points out that she was a vulnerable child at the time, she seems unable to see herself in that light; indeed, she seems to view herself as a “bad woman” in general, blaming herself for the failure of her marriage to a “good man.” It is only when she finally confesses her own experience with Buddy to Callie that she can gain absolution from the guilt that has long plagued her.

Similarly, Callie feels guilty because she involved Leigh in Buddy’s murder instead of calling the police: “[Leigh] was only fucked up because Callie had made her do terrible things” (258). Callie therefore feels responsible for Leigh’s self-sabotaging tendencies, a reaction to the trauma of Buddy’s murder that has destroyed multiple relationships, including her relationship with Walter, a man Callie knows Leigh still loves. The guilt produced by their trauma links them even more closely and creates an intense loyalty and self-sacrificing actions. It is implied that guilt at least partially motivates Callie’s decision to give Leigh her daughter to raise as her own. The ultimate self-sacrifice, however, occurs in the book’s climax, with Callie murdering Andrew/Trevor and subsequently dying by suicide to prevent Leigh from going to prison for her.