Miracle Creek

Matt is a medical doctor pursuing infertility treatments because of what he sees as constant nagging from his wife, Janine. However, it is not Matt’s relationship with his wife that positions him as a villain, but his own self-centered and selfish behavior. At the beginning of the trial, for example, all he can focus on is his own discomfort and shame at being singled out. He doesn’t consider the suffering of others.

While Matt does feel guilty for what happens to Henry, a part of him believes that he could have done more to save Henry but stopped because he “didn’t want to damage his precious hands” (51). At first, the reader might believe Matt is being too hard on himself: He lost some of his fingers and damaged his hands after trying to save Henry. However, as the story continues, Matt’s character becomes morally bankrupt.

For instance, Matt assaulted Mary on the night of her 17th birthday. He presents it as something that happened almost accidentally, a result of alcohol and the strain of his marriage. However, this ignores the fact that he, a 33-year-old man, spent an entire summer flirting with a 16-year-old girl. Matt lies about the encounter with Mary—to his wife, Abe, and to himself. Matt uses Mary as an object, and his only concern is that she not tell anyone. Other than his attempts to save Henry, Matt seems to have few, if any, redeeming qualities.

Teresa functions as a foil to Matt; the other characters often refer to her as “Mother Teresa because she’s extremely kind and patient” (27). Teresa’s daughter, Rosa, is the same age as Mary. However, when Rosa was five, she got very sick and lapsed into a coma. When she finally woke up, she had “brain damage, severe and irreversible” (279). Teresa doesn’t feel like a saint; she feels guilty for wanting to have time to herself, and even for questioning whether her prayer for Rosa to live no matter what was the “right thing to pray for” (279), considering how hard both Teresa and Rosa’s lives have been since. However, Teresa’s guilt about this only emphasizes her kindness, rather than detracting from it.

Teresa is the most empathetic character in the text, a function of her position as the parent of a disabled child. Teresa understands Elizabeth in a way no one else seems to, even if Elizabeth did hurt Henry. At the end of the novel, Teresa is the one providing Young with a home, and helping to plan and run Henry’s House. Teresa helps the others see their own way to kindness.

Pak is Young’s husband and Mary’s father. He is controlling and arrogant, particularly in the way he treats Young, who attributes this behavior to Pak being a “traditional Korean man who expected nothing but meek obedience from his wife in public” (100). However, in the last section told from Pak’s perspective, his behavior has stemmed only from wanting what’s best for his child. Nonetheless, he doesn’t understand Young’s belief, that good parents don’t just want their children to be happy, they want them to be good people.

Pak parallels Elizabeth, who spends all her time trying to “normalize” Henry but damages him in the process and ruins their relationship. Unlike Elizabeth, Pak never realizes the negative effects of his behavior. He continues to cover up the truth, even threatening to tell Abe, if Mary confesses, that she is lying to protect Pak; Pak would then get sentenced to death, which would make Mary responsible for her own father’s execution. What Pak interprets as love, others interpret as cruel; this is also true of Elizabeth.

Mary is the daughter of Young and Pak. Mary blames Young for her suffering since coming to America; she is cruel and cold to Young, despite knowing that Young did not want to come to America either. Mary doesn’t understand her cruelty toward Young, and she misses their close relationship. This complicated dynamic represents Mary’s maturity level as a teenager, as well as her place as an immigrant in the United States. Similarly, Mary enjoys Matt’s attention, but is horrified by his assault. She believes what happened was her fault, but Mary was looking for love and tenderness and was taken advantage of by a grown man.

Though Mary is responsible for the deaths of two people, she is also a sympathetic character. While the reader may not understand Mary’s thought process in starting the fire, the reader can understand that Mary was suffering. Furthermore, Mary wants to tell the truth and voluntarily decides to confess everything to Abe, despite the consequences to herself.