The Kind Worth Killing: A Novel

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-8

Part 1, Chapters 9-15

Part 2, Chapters 16-21

Part 2, Chapters 22-26

Part 3

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Themes

Moral Ambiguity and the Justification of Murder

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes references to the source text’s description of sexual assault and molestation of a minor.

Swanson explores the gray areas surrounding morality and the justification of murder through Lily’s perspective. While Lily is a protagonist and her behavior is initially justified in a narrative sense, Swanson ultimately debunks Lily’s belief system by the end of the novel. This complicates her sense of morality and suggests the reader should question the rigidity of black and white thinking. Thus, the foundation of the novel is turned on its head, and any suspended disbelief surrounding the murder of characters in Swanson’s novel is ultimately stripped away, highlighting the horror and reality of murder.

Lily creates her own system of morality in the novel, and this is revealed to have been derived from her trauma and life experience. Using flashbacks, Swanson reveals the cause for Lily’s justification of murder and how this belief system fuels the greater narrative structure of the novel. Lily sees the world differently than everyone around her because of the abuse she suffered from Chet. The direct correlation between Lily’s abuse and her decision to murder Chet reveals an underlying trauma in Lily’s psyche. Lily remains frozen at age 13, when Chet abused her. It is implied that anytime someone hurts her, she then reverts to that age and the way that she perceived the world at that time. Lily’s system of morality wavers between a black and white system of thinking, where someone like Chet must receive punishment immediately for his actions, and a gray area of morality where murder is not wrong if the person being murdered perceivably deserved it. Lily removes any outside force of a legal or justice system intervening because she trusts her impulsivity to murder someone to be absolute truth.

When Ted talks with Lily on the plane, he feels taken aback by her nonchalance surrounding the subject of murdering Miranda. Lily outlines her belief system when she tells Ted that she does not see a difference between dying naturally and having “a few bad apples get pushed along a little sooner than God intended” (35). Lily’s statement reveals her unwillingness to understand the gravity of murder, and Ted’s response to engage with her about the potential of murdering his wife shows his urgency to find moral justification in his darkest desires. Ted, longing to kill his wife because of his jealousy and frustration, jumps at the idea that this may be possible and justifiable after all.

Although Lily acts on impulsivity in her moral ambiguity, when Miranda murders Ted, Lily reveals the rules that surround her moral system. When Swanson switches to Lily’s perspective, Lily shows that she feels uncertain in her decision to help Ted murder Miranda. She begins to doubt that Miranda knew about Eric’s infidelity. However, once Miranda murders Ted, Miranda breaks the specific code of murder conduct that Lily establishes in her mind. Ted’s supposed innocence makes Miranda’s actions unforgiveable. However, Swanson incorporates irony in the narrative by Ted’s internal admission of assaulting Rebecca Rast. Although Ted keeps this secret until the day that Brad murders him, his narrative confession reveals that he is not as innocent as Lily believes. This reveals the flaw in Lily’s reasoning for the justification of murder because her limited perspective on people’s pasts and true intentions makes it impossible for her to know who is innocent and who “deserves” murder. Lily can only act on her own life experience because she is not all-knowing. Therefore, Swanson shows that Lily’s justification of murder is ultimately flawed.

Power Dynamics and Manipulation in Relationships

The complex relationships in Swanson’s novel reveal unique power dynamics and how these dynamics feed into each character’s justification of murder. The line between protagonist and antagonist is blurred in The Kind Worth Killing, in part due to the manipulation and lack of empathy on all sides of the story. These characters are willing to justify murder, showing that even the most morally-aligned characters are willing to harm others to achieve their goals. The reader is placed in a world where this is normalized. However, by the end of the novel, these behaviors cause mistrust and a breaking of the remaining code of morality each holds onto, clarifying their actions as a game of power and manipulation instead of vigilante justice.

In the complex web of relationships in Swanson’s novel, Miranda reveals herself to be the antagonist through her overt manipulation of Brad and Ted to achieve her selfish goals. However, Swanson also reveals how Lily pursues a similar type of manipulation through the calculated nature of Lily’s pursuit of Ted. Lily pursues Ted because she wants to convince him to murder Miranda to punish her for the past. Swanson shows the reader this similarity to highlight the ways that Miranda and Lily both act in the same way to get what they want out of people, despite the vilification of Miranda.

Swanson suggests that both Miranda and Lily have internalized this behavior from their childhoods. Swanson incorporates Miranda’s backstory to reveal that Miranda’s father abused his power as a teacher to assault his female students. Similarly, David Kintner uses his wealth and status to pursue and manipulate women as young as his daughter because it gives him a thrill to cheat on Sharon. These men’s abuse of their power over women mirrors the abuse of power in Chet and Lily’s relationship, as well as the relationship between Eric and Lily. In both instances, Lily is the younger, naïve girl both men pursue because they see a way to dominate her. Rather than focus on the ways that these men have taken advantage of her, Lily chooses to punish them. Lily chooses to invert the power dynamics in her relationships by secretly becoming the predator.

However, neither Lily nor Miranda investigates the abuse of power that they saw from their fathers, nor do they admit that those behaviors were wrong. Instead, they choose to mimic the behavior and manipulate others to exert dominance. Although Lily manipulates Ted to murder Miranda, Lily refuses to admit the similarity between Miranda and herself because then she would need to change her behavior. Rather, Lily creates a barrier between her actions and Miranda, demonizing everything that Miranda does. Lily’s subversion of the truth makes it easier for her to get revenge on Miranda and assert her power so that she can walk away as the successor in their feud.

The Lasting Effects of Trauma

Swanson connects the justification of murder directly with The Lasting Effects of Trauma, encouraging the reader to use empathetic caution when dismissing the characters’ willingness to murder. While Swanson’s narrative ultimately suggests disapproval of this justification, particularly through Lily’s false sense of vigilante justice for Ted’s sake despite Ted’s past behaviors, the author also carefully addresses trauma-induced violence. Lily’s entire code of morality develops based on the trauma she experiences in childhood. In this, Swanson shows how Lily’s past directly affects her actions in the present, leading to her desire for murder and her negative influence on those around her.

The connection between Lily’s traumatic past and her present actions reveals the strong impact of trauma, particularly in childhood. Lily never moves on from Chet’s abuse because she does not feel like she has anyone to protect her: instead, she chooses to protect herself by murdering him. This moment affects Lily’s entire life, which Swanson exemplifies through Lily’s vision of her younger self at the well. Lily’s action of dumping Brad’s body in the well, years after Chet’s murder in the same location, symbolizes the way that Lily has buried her emotions surrounding her trauma in the same way that she physically hides the bodies. Lily’s vision of her younger self exemplifies the way that Lily needs to soothe her inner child. Lily needs the security of knowing she is always capable of protecting herself, no matter the cost. Lily’s desire to survive fuels her actions because even as a child she knew that her parents would be unable to protect her from the world.

Similarly, Miranda channels her trauma around her parent’s divorce after her father assaulted his student into kleptomania. The chaos around this area of Miranda’s life causes her to feel out of control, so she focuses on things that she can control, such as stealing. This need for control from her childhood eventually shifts away from kleptomania towards extreme manipulation in all her romantic relationships. Miranda’s trauma with her father makes her want to feel control and safety in a relationship, so she pursues Ted for his wealth. However, Miranda finds almost immediate dissatisfaction with her marriage, causing her to turn to manipulation again to orchestrate Ted’s murder.

Through Lily and Miranda’s character arcs, Swanson highlights the reasons behind their twisted sense of morality and justice. Although Miranda and Lily’s trauma does not absolve them of their crimes, it provides perspective on the psychological impact of trauma on individuals. Their characters reveal how severe trauma can influence an individual’s current actions and even lead them toward criminal behavior in extreme cases.