Five Survive

“Red faced down the darkness, breath trapped in her throat. Why wasn’t she moving? Just move. And then the voice wasn’t hers anymore, it was her mom’s.”

This quote is reflective of Red’s trauma. She carries a lot of guilt surrounding her mother’s death, especially since her last words to her mother were hateful. The fact that the police never found the person responsible for her death also exacerbates Red’s guilt since she has no one else to hold accountable but herself. Her temporary paralysis after hearing the gunshot is a sign of her trauma.

“He punched the steering wheel. Again. And again. An inhuman sound in his throat.”

Oliver’s violent and aggressive response to stress and fear highlights his toxic masculinity. When faced with problems or situations that are out of his control, he adopts a domineering attitude and becomes a bully. His behavior continues to worsen throughout the novel, ultimately turning him into an antagonistic force inside the RV.

“They were only supposed to be gone seven days, yet Maddy must have packed enough clothes for weeks. Red glanced at her own case. No piles, no folding, no order. It was all chucked in together. Balled-up underwear buried in each corner, a watered-down mascara and a foundation that didn’t match her skin tone somewhere loose in there, never to be seen again.”

Though best friends, Maddy and Red lead very different lives, especially after Red’s mom’s death and her father developing an alcohol addiction. Maddy has a very affluent and privileged life, while Red lives in a constant state of financial and mental struggle. The visual presentation of the two suitcases is representative of their lives; Maddy’s suitcase is organized, full, and neat, while Red’s is a mess. Despite caring for and loving each other, there is an unbridgeable gap between them, which leads to both characters keeping monumental secrets from each other.

“The walkie-talkie glared at them through the darkness with one bright green eye: a small backlit rectangular display.”

This quote highlights how Jackson uses anthropomorphism to heighten the sense of claustrophobia in the novel. The attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects creates paranoia, which feeds into creating a stifling atmosphere inside the RV. The verb “glare” connotes aggression and danger, turning the innocuous walkie-talkie into a potentially dangerous object that can harm the characters.

“‘I’m taking the riskiest job,’ Oliver said. Was he? ‘He’ll shoot toward whoever is at the steering wheel, like with Maddy. So I’m going to need some protection.’”

This quote highlights the difference between how Oliver views himself and how others view him. Oliver acts as the leader; however, he is too self-important to be a good and empathetic leader. The interjection of “Was he?” from the narrator reflects Red’s increasing skepticism of Oliver’s ability to lead. Since Jackson is using a third-person limited narrative voice, the narrator’s voice and Red’s voice often overlap, implying that subconsciously, Red is beginning to question Oliver.

“What was it, what was it Mom needed Red to tell her dad? They’d never know, but maybe it would have saved her. It would have saved her and Red said no. Red hung up. Mom was killed, executed, and it was Red’s fault. Only her fault, because the police never found out who shot her. Twice. In the back of her head. On her knees. Thinking about how her daughter hated her and how she hated her back just as hard.”

As previously noted, part of the reason Red feels highly guilty about her mother’s death is that she still has questions about it. She does not know who killed her mother and why. As a result, rather than being able to transfer her anger onto the perpetrator, Red focuses her anger inward. This turns her anger into shame since she can only obsess about her actions and what she did wrong.

“Oliver turned, angry puppet strings up his neck again. His free hand darted out to Red’s throat. He shoved her and she fell back onto the sofa.”

Throughout the novel, the narrator and Red often refer to Oliver as having “puppet strings.” This metaphor highlights the performative aspect of Oliver’s personality. Oliver is constantly acting out his self-conception as a leader through stereotypical toxic masculinity. The visual image of puppet strings further implies that Oliver’s desire to have people follow him controls him.

“‘You should have told us first,’ Reyna said. ‘We should have all decided together whether or not to do that!’

‘Oh, easy for you to say now, Reyna. I had to act quickly!’”

This quote highlights Oliver’s inability to hold himself accountable. He continuously pushes blame onto other characters, trying to maintain a clean image of himself. Oliver acted quickly but also received a lot of protest from Red and Arthur, which he chose to ignore.

“‘Well, they aren’t Lavoy-loaded,’ Simon said. ‘I know you never have to think about stuff like this because your mom thinks the sun shines out of your ass and would support you whatever you wanted to do. But my situation is different. I need the money, in case I want to take a year off and apply to drama schools next year and my parents freak out and refuse to pay for it.’”

Simon points out Maddy and Oliver’s privileged position in society. Unlike them, he has to work to ensure that he has the future he wants. While Maddy and Oliver are handed a bright future, Simon has to work to create his own.

“‘Oh, come on,’ Simon interjected. ‘This is turning into Lord of the Fucking Flies. We’re going to end up killing each other, forget about the sniper.’”

The reference to Lord of the Flies is significant. Due to Oliver’s paranoia, the environment inside the RV gets increasingly toxic and dangerous. The reference to William Golding’s novel, in which a group of students turns on each other during a crisis, foreshadows later chapters.

“‘Of course we kept it secret,’ Oliver replied. ‘He hit me first. Why should I be punished for him attacking me, attacking my girlfriend? And I couldn’t do that to Mom…A son with a criminal charge would destroy her career. Not to mention my own legal career. He hit me first.’

But Oliver must have hit him harder.”

The narrator’s comment points out Oliver’s hypocrisy since he survived the fight and Jack didn’t. It is also a nod toward Oliver’s performance of masculinity. Since Oliver was hit, he had to hit back harder to prove his manhood. As in other situations, Oliver blames others for his actions, even blaming the person he killed for his own death.

“Simon was right; there was nowhere to hide. The RV wasn’t a shield, it wasn’t safety, it was only an illusion, a false barrier between here and the red dot outside. A hot tin can, shrinking, filling with holes. The night punching new eyes through the walls to watch them squirm.”

The quote highlights the growing claustrophobia inside the RV. The line between inside and outside blurs because Oliver’s anger and paranoia make the RV a hostile environment, while the sniper’s presence makes the outside dangerous. As secrets are revealed, the characters need to learn to deal with each other’s betrayals as well, which makes the RV unpleasant. Jackson conveys these feelings through metaphor and vivid imagery.

“‘Well, what is it?’ Oliver spat, puppet strings pulling his head to one side, hanging askew on his neck.”

The reference to puppet strings showcases how Oliver is always performing. He is performing the role of what he considers a man and a leader. However, rather than being guided by morals, he is controlled by his emotions. Additionally, his actions are shaped by toxic societal concepts of masculinity; he is deeply influenced by patriarchal beliefs.

“He shushed her, the sound too harsh, like a coiled snake buried there in his throat.”

This simile highlights Oliver’s duplicitous behavior. A snake is usually a symbol that connotes lying, violence, and unpredictability, and Oliver embodies all of these characteristics.

“There were three of them. But Oliver was the one with the weapon. And he was probably the only one who would use it. Or maybe that wasn’t the reason at all. Maybe they didn’t trust her either, thought she was working with the sniper. What did Red expect? She was still lying to them.”

The quote points out how power dynamics work. Even though everyone is against Oliver, he holds the power in the room because he has a weapon. On the other hand, it also highlights Red’s guilt over continuing to lie to her friends.

“Red once thought Oliver looked at her like a spare sister. She’s been wrong about the second word, though, the one that mattered.”

In his own way, Oliver also betrays Red. Red believed that Oliver cared about her to some extent, having known Red her whole life. However, Oliver proves with his actions that he only cares about himself and his family. During this crisis, only Maddy is his sister, not Red.

“‘I’ll go!’ Red said, shoving Oliver and Simon out of her way.”

This quote highlights Red’s love for Maddy. She reacts to Maddy’s distress before Oliver does, and, instead of Oliver, Red goes out to get her. Red’s love for Maddy surpasses her own sense of self-preservation. This also stands in contrast to the last quote; Red acts more like a sister than Oliver does a brother when it counts.

“But he wasn’t real. And neither were any of those small and not-so-small moments between them.”

Arthur’s betrayal hurts Red differently than Maddy’s since her feelings for Arthur are different. What she thought was a genuine connection concealed an ulterior motive, and Red struggles to accept and get past this betrayal. However, Arthur’s feelings for Red are genuine, as proved by his continued support of her for the rest of the novel.

“But it was something else too. Joseph Mannino was shot twice in the back of the head. That’s how they executed people, Catherine told me.”

Catherine, aware of Red’s need for revenge, plays with her feelings. Catherine is a masterful manipulator, something that can be seen in Oliver as well. They both know how to play with people’s emotions to get their way, as Oliver did at the beginning of the novel with Red and Reyna.

“Focus, focus on the doorbell. Something inside was telling her this was important.”

This quote emphasizes Red’s growing belief in herself. The revelations and traumas of the night force Red to trust in her own judgment, which allows her thoughts to become sharper and clearer. By believing in herself and listening to her instincts, Red solves Grace's murder. This moment is the Red’s anagnorisis, or epiphany, the defining moment of her character arc.

“A howl, wretched and raw, from Maddy, her face cracking in two as tears slipped from eyes, fast and free.”

The descriptive language in this quote highlights the strain Maddy’s betrayal inflicts on her. Maddy’s regret causes her to make an animalistic sound as if she were out of control. Jackson uses hyperbole—“face cracking in two"—to convey this depth of emotion However, the word “free” indicates that like Red, Maddy is finally free from the past and the lies.

“Mom was Red’s world, her whole world, and she must have known that, she must have felt it somehow, because that was how love worked. It wasn’t Red’s fault.”

This is a pivotal moment in the story. Red finally lets go of her shame, guilt, and anger, knowing that Catherine is the one who is at fault. She allows herself to acknowledge her love for her mother and forgives herself for her harsh words.

“All of them changed, by this RV, by each other. He’d lied to her, he was a liar, but so was Red. And the terrible thing was, she didn’t want to hate him.”

Red develops a more complex understanding of the world and her friends because of this night. Before, she only focused on the negative and repressed her feelings. Now, she allows herself to embrace her feelings, even the complicated ones, such as her complicated feelings toward Arthur. This also highlights how Jackson’s characters are morally ambiguous; no one is wholly good or bad.