48 pages • 1 hour read
Jennifer HillierLittle Secrets
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Conflict and Loyalty in Intimate Relationships
The novel explores Conflict and Loyalty in Intimate Relationships within the context of Marin Machado’s and McKenzie Li’s experiences. Marin’s chapters contextualize these themes within Marin’s marriage to Derek Machado and her friendship with Sal Palermo. McKenzie’s chapters of the novel recontextualize these notions within her affair with Derek and her history with Sal, or J.R. For Marin, discovering that her husband is having an affair upsets her definitions of love and loyalty. Although her marriage has grown strained since her son’s disappearance, she still believes that “Derek is the love of her life” and is hopeful that they’ll work through their grief and guilt together (80). This is why she directs her anger at McKenzie instead of at Derek after Vanessa Castro tells her that Derek is cheating on her. She’s reluctant to let go of the last person in her family. Meanwhile, she tries to sustain her friendship with Sal because he is the only other person in her life that she loves and trusts. These relationships dictate how Marin sees herself and understands her reality. Her impulsive decisions throughout the novel are begotten of her longing for intimacy and closeness.
McKenzie’s involvement with Derek and J.R. similarly contributes to her understanding of companionship and love. Ever since McKenzie was in college, she has dated older, married men to maintain financial stability. These relationships have also distracted her from her heartbreak over J.R. However, McKenzie’s relational dynamics with both men only deflate her sense of self-worth. Derek treats her like an afterthought and has grown increasingly distant, moody, and angry over the course of their affair. Meanwhile, J.R. consistently “remind[s] her that she [is] never going to be the one” for him (169). She knows that the men don’t value her but feels incapable of ending these attachments. Not unlike Marin, McKenzie relies upon her sexual and personal relationships to alleviate her loneliness and longing. As a result, she fails to devote her energy to healing from her personal trauma and claiming autonomy over her life.
The parallels between Marin and McKenzie’s storylines deepen the novel’s underlying commentaries about intimate relationships. The third-person limited point of view grants access to each of their internal worlds and reveals the ways in which their personal connections complicate their ability to understand themselves. Furthermore, the point of view enacts the women’s estrangement from their own hearts and minds. They can’t fully claim who they are while they’re still relying on their relationships to give them meaning. It isn’t until after they resolve their relational conflicts that they’re able to move forward and pursue real change.
The Moral Complexities of Revenge
Both Marin’s and McKenzie’s emotional pain compels them to seek revenge against those they feel have caused them harm. In turn, their attempts to avenge themselves and their loved ones compel them into complex moral questions about right and wrong. Over the course of the novel, the longer the women let their sorrow and anger go unattended, the more impulsive and illogical they become. For Marin, her sustained grief over Sebastian’s disappearance confuses her and causes her to seek revenge against McKenzie. It’s easy for her to blame McKenzie for the tragedies in her life because she knows who she is. This is why she hires Julian to have her killed, even though the plan “is absolutely over-the-top insane” (97). Marin is desperate for control and doesn’t know how to seize it without taking extreme action against those she feels have wronged her. Furthermore, her anger towards McKenzie feels enlivening. This newfound obsessive energy distracts Marin from her sorrow and guilt and causes her to seek revenge without fully reflecting on the consequences. It takes Marin the majority of the novel to realize that McKenzie doesn’t deserve to die simply because she has been sleeping with Derek.
Meanwhile, McKenzie’s pain causes her to lash out at those around her, too. She feels wronged and abandoned by both Derek and J.R. and eager to assert herself in these relationships. For example, she doesn’t question what she’s doing when she breaks into Derek and Marin’s house and snoops around. She also gets involved with J.R. and Julian’s scheme because she wants the promised monetary cut and feels justified in hurting Derek and Marin. Her decisions are inspired by her past trauma, which has blinded her to the pain she is in turn causing others.
By the end of the novel, McKenzie and Marin both learn that exacting revenge against those who have hurt them won’t heal their pain. This is why Marin goes to McKenzie in Chapter 33 and admits that she “wished [her] dead” and that she “can’t live with that” (331). Her confession of her moral oversight reveals her character’s capacity for change. Furthermore, Marin’s openness compels McKenzie to reflect on her own moral missteps. In these ways, the novel suggests that the desire for revenge is an innate human compulsion and that there is forgiveness for doing so.
Identity and Self-Worth After Personal Tragedy
Marin and McKenzie are both compelled to confront their Identity and Self-Worth After Personal Tragedy. For Marin, Sebastian’s disappearance causes her to question who she is. For years, she’s defined herself according to her stable, predictable life. She and Derek have been in a healthy, loving relationship and have started a happy family together. They also both run successful businesses and live in a palatial home in a wealthy neighborhood. These facets of her life give Marin a sense of order and balance. Furthermore, her home and family life make her feel accomplished, peaceful, and content. However, after her son disappears, Marin descends into a deep depression and attempts to die by suicide more than once. Because she blames herself for what happened to Sebastian, she becomes convinced that everyone “in the world [...] secretly think[s] she’s a piece of shit” (15). She can’t value herself any longer because she feels like a failure. These self-flagellating emotions only worsen when she discovers that Derek has been cheating on her with a younger woman for the past six months. She’s lost control of her life and feels that she’s the reason for Sebastian’s disappearance and Derek’s infidelity. Her internal struggles originate from her grief and guilt. These complex emotions distort her sense of truth and self and complicate her pursuit of healing and change.
McKenzie’s encounters with loss and heartbreak similarly diminish her self-worth and distort her identity. Since McKenzie’s dad abandoned her and her mom when she was a child, McKenzie has lived with trust and abandonment issues. Therefore, when J.R. ends their relationship, McKenzie feels ruined. Her pain is “even worse than [when] her dad [left]” (170). Because J.R. doesn’t value her, McKenzie feels incapable of valuing herself. Her fraught relationship with Derek only compounds her self-doubt and self-hatred. Much like J.R., Derek treats her like an addendum to his life rather than a priority. In these ways, McKenzie’s intimate relationships have taught her that she is unlovable and forgettable. Ultimately, McKenzie must end her entanglements with both men before she can truly begin to see herself anew. She and Marin must both discover what it means to be on their own and to derive their self-worth from their own strength. They have to confront their past trauma or reconcile with their personal tragedies to pursue healing and reinvent their identities on their own terms.
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By Jennifer Hillier
