My Lovely Wife

Millicent is the narrator’s wife and partner-in-crime. She commits every murder in the novel except one; the narrator killed her sister Holly. Millicent seems responsible, strict, and hardworking, but she’s also secretive, vindictive, and lacks a moral compass. Millicent’s character contributes to The Complexity of Identity because she presents a false identity to fool others into trusting her. For example, although she is the one who kidnaps and eventually kills Naomi, Millicent attends a prayer event for Naomi and wears a T-shirt to show solidarity with the community. Millicent hides in plain sight, making her a terrifying villain. People do not think to suspect her, which allows her to get away with more.

Millicent also develops The Wide-Ranging Effects of Infidelity and Murder. After learning that her husband cheated on her, Millicent’s response is far beyond what might be expected. She is not the only person who suffers as a result of the narrator’s infidelity; instead, five women die as a result, including people whom her husband did not cheat on her with. Additionally, the community enters a panic, Trista dies by suicide, and Jenna develops an anxiety disorder. Millicent’s character arc shows how infidelity and murder do not have just one “victim.” Instead, a large web of people are affected. Each person who dies leaves behind loved ones, coworkers, and acquaintances, all of whom are affected in various ways. The community as a whole is also affected because of the media’s coverage of these events, and the panic that results from it.

Jenna and Rory are the narrator and Millicent’s children and the main focuses of The Challenges of Parenthood. At first, the narrator feels like the kids are getting in the way of his and Millicent’s criminal activities: they are limited to talking about these activities after the kids are asleep, they can only commit murders when the kids are at sleepovers, and, due to Jenna’s recurrent stomach issues, the narrator always has to take care of her instead of helping Millicent murder people. In reality, the parents’ immoral activities (including murder and infidelity) are getting in the way of their children’s well-being. Millicent harms Jenna directly by poisoning her with eye drops, which cause her stomach problems. However, she also harms Jenna indirectly, because when she murders a series of women, Jenna becomes deeply fearful that she will be next, and develops an anxiety disorder and violent behavior. This shows how, even when parents make attempts to shield their children from their own secret activities, there is no way to truly live two separate lives. The consequences of the parents’ activities outside the home inevitably creep into the home and damage their children.

Rory does not react the same way as Jenna to the serial killer news, but he does react when he learns about his father’s infidelity. At first, he blackmails his father, demanding video games and cash in exchange for not telling his mother and sister about the cheating. This arrangement teaches Rory several toxic lessons and is not likely to help him grow into a good adult. Later, Rory does not want any more money. What he wants is even more upsetting to the narrator: He wants his father to stop cheating on his mother. By this point, he already has, but that doesn’t change Rory’s perception. The narrator learns that lying to his children is not sustainable. Leading a double life as a serial killer or stalker is not feasible if he is going to truly commit to being a good father. Thus, he renounces these activities and kills his wife to protect his kids from her.

Holly is the first and only person the narrator kills. She is also Millicent’s sister. Holly’s murder highlights The Wide-Ranging Effects of Infidelity and Murder because at first, the narrator and Millicent do not face many consequences for murdering Holly or the coworker who comes looking for her, Robin. They do not get caught, the stories do not dominate the news, and their kids do not know about the deaths. The narrator kills Holly because he believes she is a direct threat to Millicent and his family. The feeling he gets from killing her—self-defense and protection—is not something that can be emulated by killing random women who are not threats. Whereas the narrator does not experience much guilt or shame after killing Holly, he experiences a great deal of guilt and shame after Millicent kills Naomi and Lindsay, and also after Trista dies by suicide, which he considers to be his fault. Not all murders in the novel present the same amount of consequences, but ultimately, most murders generate consequences beyond what the narrator originally expected.

Holly is also a key to the theme of The Complexity of Identity. Millicent had told the narrator that her sister Holly had died years before and that before her death she was institutionalized for torturing and trying to kill Millicent. Part of the reason the narrator feels he must kill Holly in self-defense is because, based on Millicent’s stories, he believes she is a dangerous person. Later, he learns the truth: Millicent is the one who tortured and tried to kill Holly, but she successfully convinced their family that Holly was the one to blame. Holly’s character demonstrates how easily the perception of a person’s identity can be manipulated, and the dire consequences that can result. Though Holly did eventually become an aggressive and violent person, that was because of what she experienced after her sister made others believe she was a violent person, not because violence was an innate part of her identity.