The Impossible Knife of Memory

Hayley Kincain is 17-year-old high school student. She is the protagonist of the novel and, with the exception of a few chapters, its primary narrator. She is in her senior year of high school, which is her first year in a traditional high school. She was previously homeschooled by her dad while traveling the country in a semi-truck. She is not focused on academics or her future.

Hayley lives with her dad, a struggling veteran. She is responsible for age and acts like the parent in the relationship. She is motivated by her love for her dad and her desire to see him get better. She tends to view the world negatively because of her family situation and her dad’s influence over her. She handles stressful situations in the pattern of “threat…assess…action.” She chooses to “not remember” her past because it is too painful to recall when things were better. By the end of the novel, she realizes this is not a good way to live.

Hayley has one good friend, Gracie, and enters a romantic relationship with Finn. She dislikes most of the students in her school, viewing them as “zombies” who are all the same. She often feels disconnected from social norms, saying she does not know “The Rules” (146) of things like dating.