Five Total Strangers

The SUV Harper rents becomes the major symbol of Isolation and Obsession as it intersects with The Consequences of Dishonesty and Distrust. When Mira first decides to get a ride with Harper and the others, she isolates herself with this group of strangers. The trip is meant to only take six hours, but the weather and a series of unexpected events cause it to take much longer. Mira will also eventually discover that one of the strangers, Josh, is a person who met her on the day her Aunt Phoebe died and has become obsessed with her.

The SUV is a box that has just enough room for the five strangers and their few belongings. As the plot progresses, each person notices one of their belongings is missing. This creates a dynamic where the strangers understand that one of them must be lying and but don’t know who the perpetrator is. The people inside the SUV have become a small society that begins to fall apart due to their isolation and their inability to trust each other.