Pretty Little Liars

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2006

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Preface-Chapter 4

Chapters 5-19

Chapters 20-29

Chapters 30-35

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Secrets: Past and Present

The major characters in the book carry deep secrets that they are terrified of others discovering. The book’s many secrets serve as both a way of bonding the characters together and as a potential weapon for division, since everyone is afraid of their secrets being exposed. While Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna are sad when Ali goes missing, they also feel relieved because she “knew more about them than anyone else did” (18). They know their secrets can’t be exposed. However, when their old secrets start resurfacing again three years later in the form of messages from the mysterious A, who also seems to know their growing number of new secrets, the girls once again become paranoid and afraid. In many ways, they’re constantly burdened by their secrets and aren’t always able to be themselves because of them.

One of the biggest secrets is “The Jenna Thing” (16), which is known only to Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna, as well as Alison. Back when they were all friends in seventh grade, a prank gone wrong permanently blinds Jenna—a former classmate at Rosewood and a neighbor of Ali and Spencer’s. At the time, Ali said that their secrets, the biggest of which is The Jenna Thing, bonded them together for “eternity” (4). In some ways, this holds true. Even though the girls have grown apart, they reunite at Ali’s memorial and share a moment of fear when Jenna and her brother, Toby—who was originally intended to be the target of the prank—show up. Spencer lights up a cigarette and they all admit it’s been a terrible week. The moment also prompts Spencer to want to tell them all “that she’d missed them all these years” (284). Another layer to The Jenna Thing is kept secret, though, as Spencer remembers that she knows more than the other girls, including Ali. Spencer knew that Toby witnessed Ali watching the prank, but that Ali also saw Toby “doing something just as bad” (145). This fact alone seems to ensure that the secret will always be safe because Toby doesn’t want to expose his own behavior, although at the end of the book Spencer briefly worries that there might be additional proof implicating them.

There are several other major secrets that pervade the book. Some of them are old and were known to Ali, while others are new but are not going unnoticed. The mysterious A, whose identity is not revealed, sends messages to the girls about all their secrets, both old and new, which keeps them in a state of fear. The secrets known to Ali, as well as to A, include Aria’s dad’s affair with a student—that her mother still doesn’t know about, Hanna’s eating disorder, and Emily’s strong feelings for Alison. The new secrets known only to A include Aria’s relationship with her teacher, Ezra; Spencer’s tryst with her sister’s boyfriend, Wren; Hanna’s shoplifting incident and drunk driving accident; and Emily’s attraction to Maya.

These secrets not only reveal the true characters of each of the girls but demonstrate that they prefer to keep hidden the deepest parts of themselves. Their biggest fear is having others know who they truly are. The fact that Ali’s disappearance brings them relief because she held their secrets over them shows the extent to which they were ashamed of their real identities or situations in the past. Now that A is taunting them with secrets both old and new, they are forced to confront that sense of shame once again. Aria and Emily try to talk to one another but neither can do it because of their fear. They are unable to completely “bury” (18) the past the way they wanted to. The message they simultaneously receive at the end of the book saying that A knows everything means they can’t escape who they are. They will continue to be haunted by their secrets until they face them directly.

Rivalries That Result from Competitive and Superficial Environments

Throughout the book, rivalries dominate the characters’ lives. These rivalries demonstrate that Rosewood promotes an environment that is often highly competitive and superficial. People are constantly trying to outdo one another in various capacities. The main rivalries in the book include Alison’s rivalry with the other girls, Hanna’s rivalry with her future stepsister, and Spencer’s rivalry with her sister, Melissa.

Alison’s dynamic with Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna was one in which she had all the control. While the girls all have fun together, Alison revealed her competitive nature by maintaining total power over everyone. She was always able to take charge of the situation through bullying and using the girls’ secrets against them. When Spencer told Alison she’d kissed Melissa’s high school boyfriend, Ian, Alison advised Spencer to tell Melissa. However, Spencer suspected it was only because Alison was angry over their “running competition all year over who could hook up with the most older boys” (57). After kissing Ian, Spencer was in the lead. The night of the girls’ sleepover, just before Alison disappeared, Spencer thought Alison was going to tell Melissa about Ian. She decided in that moment, however, that she didn’t care because she “wanted to be free of Ali, right then and there” (214). She was tired of always fearing Alison and the power she held.

Alison also bullied Emily about her attraction to Alison, Aria about her dad’s affair, and Hanna about her weight. She held the fact that Emily kissed her “over Emily’s head, forcing Emily to go along with whatever she wanted to do” (226-227). She teased Aria about her dad’s affair, which hurt Aria’s feelings (231). When Hanna brought Alison to meet her dad’s new family, including Kate—the beautiful daughter of Hanna’s dad’s girlfriend—Alison joked to everyone that Hanna can eat whatever she wants, then laughs. Hanna was overweight at the time and developed an eating disorder soon after. Now that Hanna is no longer a “chubby, clingy loser” (46), she wishes Alison could see her transformation—it would finally give her a competitive edge over Alison. She likes to believe if Alison were alive “she’d be rooting for her, now that her life was so perfect” (243).

Another major rivalry is between Hanna and Kate. Although Hanna has only met Kate once, the relationship between Hanna’s father and Kate is a major insecurity for Hanna. When Hanna first met Kate, whom she considers to be “the prettiest girl Hanna had ever met” (89), both Hanna’s father and Ali bullied Hanna about her weight. Her dad “called her a pig right in front of Kate” (89) and Ali joked that Hanna can eat whatever she wants, even though she has a weight problem at the time and has eaten several desserts that day. She wonders why she “couldn’t be beautiful and graceful and perfect like Ali or Kate?” (241). She developed an eating disorder, making herself throw up “for the very first time” (89) that day. The remarks made by her dad and Ali make Hanna feel horrible about herself, especially when compared to Kate. A few years later, the messages Hanna receives from A do the same. They tell Hanna her dad doesn’t love her best and include a newspaper article of Kate, looking “more perfect than ever” (158), with her mom and Hanna’s dad. Hanna feels like her dad has picked Kate—whom she can never quite measure up to—over her. As a result, Hanna’s behavior becomes increasingly self-destructive. Her eating disorder starts to reemerge, and she drunkenly steals Sean’s car and crashes it.

The biggest rivalry, however, is between siblings Spencer and Melissa. The two sisters are highly competitive with one another. When Melissa brings back home décor for the barn, where Spencer was supposed to live, Spencer decides “Two could play at this game” (125). She catches Melissa off-guard by telling her in front of her new boyfriend, Wren, that her ex, Ian Thomas, is now coaching Spencer’s lacrosse team. Later, she announces her PSAT scores—which are close to perfect and 100 points higher than her sister’s—to her family at the dinner table. They are playing a game called “Star Power” (129) in which each family member announces their achievement for the day. Spencer unanimously wins the game with her high scores and gets to move back into the barn as her prize. The competition between the girls comes to a head when Melissa’s boyfriend, Wren, shows an immediate interest in Spencer. Although Spencer initially tries to ignore his advances, she slowly begins to yield to them. Melissa eventually sees Wren cheating on her with Spencer. While Melissa and Spencer’s parents turn against Spencer as a result, Wren continues to see her in secret. Although Spencer seems to have temporarily won the competition, it’s bittersweet because she likes Wren, and her parents are no longer speaking to her.

Transgressions Without Consequences

Several of the major characters in the book engage in activities that cross moral, ethical, and sometimes legal boundaries. They commit transgressions that could potentially cost jobs, relationships, and even lives. The consequences of these transgressions are often minimal for the transgressor, which leaves open the question as to whether anyone has learned anything from their actions. They may continue to indulge in the same questionable behavior. Notable transgressions in the book include Alison’s disappearance; The Jenna Thing, in which the girls try to pull a prank that leaves a classmate blind; Aria’s underage drinking; her relationship with her teacher; her father’s secret affair with his student; Hanna’s shoplifting and drunk driving; her mother’s “handling” of the situations by sleeping with the police officer in charge; Spencer’s tryst with her sister’s boyfriend; and the fact that the girls are being stalked and harassed by A.

The regular acts of transgression committed by the characters demonstrate that morality in Rosewood is not well-defined. Generally, no one gets caught for their illicit behavior. Aria meets Ezra at a bar where she’s drinking illegally. When she later finds out that he’s her teacher, she implies she still wants to continue their relationship by assuring him that “No one would know” (103). He explains he thought she was older, and she responds that “Everybody lies about their age” (102). Although Ezra initially dismisses the idea of their relationship, he later reaches out to her to come over, which she does. Although A seems to know of their secret tryst, no one else does. Aria and Ezra easily explore a situation that began with her breaking the law and ultimately could get him fired.

There are several other transgressions where no one is ever caught or held responsible for their actions. Aria’s father engages in a secret affair with his student when Aria was in seventh grade. Aria’s mother still doesn’t know, which is the main reason Aria doesn’t want to tell anyone about the messages from A regarding the situation. When Emily comes to her house to talk, she’s “too afraid” (234) to say anything because “She still didn’t want anyone to know” (234). Alison disappears early in the story and the case remains unsolved. Her body isn’t found until the end of the book and the police have yet to charge anyone with a crime. None of the girls ever get in trouble for The Jenna Thing, in which a prank goes wrong and leaves Jenna permanently blind. Because Alison saw Toby, Jenna’s brother, doing something bad too, it’s unlikely he’ll ever come forward to explain who is responsible. A also freely stalks and harasses the main characters without any consequence. The girls are too terrified of their secrets being revealed to file a police report or tell anyone about what’s happening.

When someone does get caught for their indiscretions, there are usually no major repercussions. Although Hanna gets caught shoplifting and later, drunk driving—in which she destroys Sean’s car—her mom handles everything by sleeping with the police officer who arrests Hanna. Although Hanna commits acts that are illegal, she is never charged with a crime or punished. Mona, who is the first to shoplift, urging Hanna to do the same, and is with Hanna for the driving incident, doesn’t get in trouble for anything. Hanna refers to her as “the lucky bitch” (271). Although Spencer gets caught with Wren, she and Wren maintain a relationship. She does have to move back out of the barn, and her family is mad, but it’s the only real consequence of note. Rosewood is a place where people can get away with almost anything.