I Know What You Did Last Summer

Print media is a motif that develops the theme of The Effects of Guilt About Manslaughter. The antagonist (Bud/Collie) sends the teens physical items to remind them that they killed a little boy in a hit-and-run accident. The title of the novel is a handwritten message on a “folded sheet of lined paper” (8) that Julie receives in the first chapter. Ray receives a newspaper clipping in an envelope that is “addressed in the same block printing” (87) as Julie’s letter. The handwriting is part of the medium, bringing the physical hand of the antagonist to the teens—the hand that later enacts violence on them. Helen receives a picture of a boy on a bicycle clipped from a magazine ad. The act of cutting out the picture builds on the motif of the antagonist’s physical acts that make the teens remember their guilt.

The newspaper article that Ray receives not only contains content about the accident, but its form is also significant: “The clipping was yellowed from exposure. Someone has handled it often and read it many times. It was creased down the middle and had the smell of old dollar bills. Someone had kept it in a wallet perhaps” (53). Again, the hand of the antagonist is shown in the folding of the article. His handling of it leads to the discoloration, and keeping it in his wallet shows how he physically carried it with him. The trauma of the accident is felt and described physically, using print media.