This Is Why We Lied

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to abuse, sexual assault, rape, incest, and substance and alcohol use disorders.

“All he could think was the same thing everybody thought when they saw them together: what the hell was she doing with him? She was so damn clever and funny and beautiful and he couldn’t even get the knot out of his shoelace in the dark.”

This thought of Will’s serves several important purposes at the beginning of the novel. It introduces his third-person point of view and develops his character through his perspective on his relationship with Sara. Will’s self-esteem issues stem from his childhood, introducing the theme of How the Past Affects the Present.

“The white button-down shirt Mercy had worn at dinner had disappeared into the bloody pulp of her chest. Water had washed clean some of the wounds. He could see the angry gouges in her shoulder where the knife had been twisted. Dark red squares showed the only thing that had kept the blade from going deeper was the handle.”

Graphic details highlight the brutality of the violent crime against Mercy. This level of detail is a typical genre convention of a police procedural and characterizes Karin Slaughter’s work. In addition, this description generates a visceral reaction and connection with Mercy, the victim, increasing the tension as Will and his team look for the killer.

“Papa hadn’t moved, but she felt like she was a teenager again with his hands wrapped around her neck. Grabbing Mercy by the hair when she tried to run away. Jerking her arm so hard that the tendon popped. She was late to school again, late for work again, hadn’t done her homework, had done her homework too soon. He was always after her, punching her arm, bruising her leg, beating her with his belt, whipping her with the rope in the barn. He had kicked her in the stomach when she was pregnant. […] Testified in front of a judge that she deserved prison time. Told another judge she was mentally ill. Told a third judge she was unfit to be a mother. She saw him now with a sudden, startling clarity. Papa wasn’t angry about what he had lost in the bike accident. He was angry about what Mercy had gained.”

Again, graphic details describe violence. In this flashback sequence from Mercy’s third-person point of view, she recalls how Cecil relentlessly abused her throughout her life, from her childhood to her pregnancy and beyond. The final sentence alludes to Mercy’s new clarity of perspective on her father’s behavior: She suddenly sees his abuse for what it is, an attempt to control her because of his lack of control over his own life.