The Cellar

“You’re right, I am so sorry. We are a family. You’re my family, and I forgot that for a second. Please forgive what I said. I should have never doubted you.”

Violet’s (Jennifer’s) response to Clover after he threatens her with a knife is significant in several ways. First, it demonstrates how powerless Clover’s captives are. Next, it makes Summer wonder about the strange effect imprisonment seems to have on the other women: Might they genuinely appreciate this constructed “family,” or is it wholly a pretense for safety’s sake? This question introduces the theme of The Dynamics of Power and Control in Abusive Situations. Finally, Violet’s reaction foreshadows a later scene when Violet again acts out against Clover and then tries to beg forgiveness.

“The main hall was heaving with people. Right at the front was a long table stacked with maps, bottles of water, and high-visibility vests. […] A picture of Summer was pinned to a board beside the table. The world stopped spinning. I took a deep breath and walked toward the police officers.”

The narrative switches to Lewis’s first-person perspective in Chapter 4, which provides a window into the events outside the cellar. Upset and reeling, Lewis’s surprise at the size of the crowd amassing to look for Summer suggests he is naïve to missing person procedures. The author uses personification with the hall’s “heaving” to emphasize the number of volunteers. Lewis’s interior monologue implies he thinks metaphorically with “The world stopped spinning”; this phrase indicates his focus sharpens upon seeing Summer’s photo.

“Scary movies were the worst.”

The narrative transitions to a flashback to 2009 to show the start of Summer and Lewis’s relationship. The author employs irony in this pre-kidnapping scene to heighten the overall atmosphere of horror prevalent in the text: At the time, Summer hates scary movies; ironically, she has no idea that she will have to live through terrifying events after Clover abducts her.

“I didn’t think of myself as a child, but clearly she did. She said it as if he was breaking another law as well as kidnap, rape, and whatever it’s called locking someone up in your cellar. I was the age that made me a child in the eyes of the law but over the age that would make him sign a register. Age didn’t matter to me down here; it was all wrong.”

Summer finds it curious that Violet’s (Jennifer’s) concern for her seems to center on her youth. The other young women in the cellar are older than Summer; they also seem more mature as a result of their experiences while living on the streets. Summer is different not only because she is the youngest but also because she is the most innocent, most family-oriented, and (initially) most hopeful of the four Flowers. Summer also alludes here to the irony of her age; because she is 16, Summer thinks that Clover would not have to register as a sex offender if he sexually assaults her and is caught. She is, however, still too young for the social responsibilities afforded to someone who is 18 and considered a legal adult.

“The horribly strong metallic smell bulldozed its way through the eye-watering lemon scent and I gagged. As quickly as the blood had poured onto the floor, it was gone. They were fast but thorough—not one spot was left unclean.”

As Rose and Poppy clean up after Clover murders Violet (Jennifer), the visuals and smells assail Summer in an onslaught of sensory imagery. Sensory imagery brings a scene into fuller focus; here, Summer’s interior monologue conveys the stark and horrific cleanup through her senses. Summer is shocked that Rose and Poppy clean up so efficiently, which serves as a clue to the overarching mystery surrounding Clover’s past actions and motivations: They have cleaned up Clover’s murders before.

“Their place was beautiful, and although it wasn’t huge, it had everything they could ever want or need.”

Chapters from Clover’s perspective help to characterize him indirectly and reveal his backstory through memory, flashbacks, and interior monologue. Here, he finishes the cellar apartment for his soon-to-arrive “family”; his pride in his decorating choices and forethought reveals an individual with controlling, dangerous behavior, a disregard for both the law and others’ freedoms, and a capacity for violence.

“Although the search had widened, what if it wasn’t wide enough? What if Summer was just a mile out of that area—or even a few feet? That was why we had widened our search. The area closest to us was more than being covered with the official search, which now included the wide forest. The reason you searched a forest was if you were looking for a body.”

Lewis’s interior monologue indirectly reveals his worry over the search for Summer. He experiences a gamut of emotions, including guilt, responsibility, hope, hopelessness, and panic, in the weeks after Summer’s disappearance. He rejects the notion of the traditional, formal search organized by law enforcement that he considers useless; here, he especially rejects the notion of wasting time in the woods when he believes Summer is still alive, a belief that highlights Resilience in the Face of Dire Circumstances.

“He looked at Rose differently than Poppy; there was more there. If he wasn’t so cold and dead inside, I would almost think he genuinely loved her.”

Summer’s thoughts on the way Clover gazes at Rose serve several purposes. First, they foreshadow the upcoming chapter that reveals Clover’s past infatuation with Rose in his “real” life. Next, they support Rose’s actions and behaviors thus far in the novel as a person who seems to make frequent excuses for Clover, which connects to the theme of The Dynamics of Power and Control in Abusive Situations. Finally, they demonstrate Summer’s ability as a character to observe and draw conclusions about others.

“I knew there were still body bags in the cupboard under the stairs. I’d bought no more since Mother died, but I knew now I would have to.”

Clover hints at his motivations behind killing sex workers in this flashback chapter. After committing murder—a sex worker whom he stabs in the stomach in front of the first Violet (Catherine) and the first Poppy (name unknown), he feels secure in his actions and expects to continue his mother’s important “cause” of ridding the world of sex workers, who he views as sinful. Later, the narrative reveals that Colin’s parents’ marriage failed due to his father’s relationship with a sex worker; this implies that Colin’s mother began murdering sex workers because she believed they contributed to the destruction of marriages.

“Every time he hurt me or someone else, I seriously doubted any plan of escape. I realized that was why Poppy didn’t want to do anything; she didn’t think for one second we could make it.”

In terms of narrative structure, Summer’s lowest points—emotionally and spiritually—occur in the third and fourth chapter set; this begins just after Clover punches her in the jaw, a moment that develops the theme of The Dynamics of Power and Control in Abusive Situation. He also strikes Rose (Shannen) and Poppy (Becca). That he assaults them simply because the cut flowers died again is evidence of his irrationality; his violence stokes such fear in Summer that though her hope of escape is alive, it begins to dwindle. Surviving each day replaces escaping as Summer’s primary goal.

“Everything was different with Shannen. She was the one.”

In a crucial twist in Clover’s characterization, the author reveals through flashback that Shannen (the Rose in Summer’s present) and Colin had mutual feelings; Clover thinks Shannen is his best chance for a “traditional” relationship. Ironically, his overwhelming need for control ruins any chance of that—along with the fact that three women are already captive in his basement when he forces Shannen into his home. This backstory helps to explain Rose’s excuses for Clover’s behavior in the present, something Summer does not understand. Dramatic irony exists, as readers now know more about Clover and Rose than Summer does.

“Summer was slipping away, and I clutched at that carefree stubborn teenager with my fingertips.”

Summer voices her frustration and fear in interior monologue through this metaphorical thought, which supports the theme of Manipulation of Identity and Resistance Against Erasure of Self. She feels her identity withering after six months of captivity, trauma, and physical and sexual abuse. Compounding her frustration is the fact that she has no one to talk to about the potential loss of her former self; Rose (Shannen) and Poppy (Becca) have made it known that living as Lily is key to her survival.

“There was something about only hearing what he was doing that made it so much scarier.”

This focus on auditory imagery occurs when Clover brings another sex worker to the cellar to murder just after he decides to allow Violet (Layal) to live. Summer hears the screams, physical altercation, and Clover’s raging, vengeful vocalizations. Her horror and fear echo her emotional reactions earlier in the novel when she hears the door to the cellar open, cueing Clover’s approach. The author employs sensory imagery throughout scenes that depict Summer’s captivity; this technique helps in describing the day-to-day events in a locked, bland, unchanging setting.

“Letting out a deep breath, I closed my eyes. I have control.”

Clover demonstrates verbal irony in this interior monologue—having just killed Christy, he proves he has little control. Christy’s murder is different in several ways; she is not a sex worker but a receptionist and coworker in the office where he works. He kills her not in the cellar like his other murders but in Christy’s home. His first strike to her stomach does not kill Christy, so in a rage, he stabs her in the chest hard enough to break her ribs. Not only do these differences reveal that Clover is changing his tactics, but they also show that his control over his emotions and actions is fading fast.

“Lewis, I can’t say. I sincerely hope not, but we will continue searching until we know this water is clear.”

This line from police detective Michael Walsh regarding whether he believes they will find Summer’s body in the canal represents Lewis’s internal conflict throughout the novel: In Lewis’s estimation, the police know nothing regarding Summer’s disappearance. The line also highlights a change of direction in the plot, as the found bodies spur Lewis and Henry to new, drastic action, taking matters into their own hands (such as accosting Greg Hart and sneaking into Colin Brown’s house). Lewis’s refusal to believe that Summer will be found dead helps to support the theme of Resilience in the Face of Dire Circumstances.

“Ah, moving further from the park. I admired his persistence. However, he should learn to take care of someone he claimed to love.”

In these lines of interior monologue from Clover, he reacts in first-person perspective to Lewis’s plan to search two more fields for clues. Clover’s attitude demonstrates the irrational belief that he is better for Summer than Lewis since Lewis allowed Summer to be abducted. With Clover’s inability to see his own illogic here, the concept of character voice is evident and juxtaposes strongly with chapters from other viewpoint characters. The line also showcases dramatic irony since the reader knows Lewis is speaking with Summer’s captor, but Lewis does not.

“When asked where I was, they were satisfied with my ‘at home watching Ocean’s Eleven’ answer. They would look into it, of course, but I knew the move was on at the time Christy died.”

Clover’s choice to use the film Ocean’s Eleven as an alibi is ironic. The film tells the story of a gang of thieves who successfully pull off a heist; in a way, Clover is also a thief—he steals young women, seeing their value and beauty. That the police are satisfied with this answer is ironic as well, as many heist movies include thieves who outsmart the authorities. Clover’s ability to throw the detectives off his trail demonstrates his confidence and power, which connects to the theme of The Dynamics of Power and Control in Abusive Situations.

“Rolling onto my stomach, I buried my head under my pillow. Had I really reached a new low where I wished I had no one? My heart broke, and I sobbed into the sheet.”

Summer’s interior monologue here reveals how long months of captivity impact her overall identity, supporting the theme of Manipulation of Identity and Resistance Against Erasure of Self. In the early days in the cellar, she relied on thoughts and memories of her family and Lewis to survive, but now, she associates their memory with pain and struggle. She calls out her low point here; moving forward, Summer will have reasons to regain subtle strength and power. The author often relies on common idiomatic and hyperbolic expressions like “buried my head under my pillow” and “my heart broke” to convey emotion.

“What the hell was he doing with yarn?”

In a scene of high suspense, Lewis and Henry happen upon Colin Brown leaving a store with bags of books and yarn. Dramatic irony underscores their brief conversation, as the reader knows exactly what (and whom) the yarn and books are for, while Lewis and Henry do not. In the rising action of the plot, Lewis’s discovery of Colin with yarn and books represents a peak close to the book’s climactic scenes; his ironic choice to turn in another direction to search represents a falling-off from that peak. The reader must wait to see whether Lewis’s suspicion develops.

“Summer had dragged me into that shop a million times before.”

In an important discovery in the plot’s rising action, Lewis realizes that the four shoeboxes he sees in Colin’s house are a women’s brand (thanks to his shopping excursions with Summer). This connects Colin to suspicious activity, increases the suspense, and pushes Lewis toward further action. Situational irony exists in that while Summer is trapped in the cellar, Lewis’s relationship with Summer is the reason he recognizes the shoe brand. The author uses a common hyperbolic expression (“a million times”) to emphasize Lewis’s certainty that the shoes came from the New Look brand.

“The smell of lemon washed over me. It smelled worse than a hospital and started to give me a headache almost immediately.”

Separated now over seven months, Lewis and Summer’s first point of connection since her abduction is the smell of Colin’s lemon cleaner. The author employs similar sensory imagery to describe Summer’s sick feeling when she smells it in the cellar. Now, Lewis has a similar physical reaction to the smell. Dramatic irony builds in this moment, as the reader knows Summer has experienced the lemon smell for months, but Lewis does not.

“I pictured every horrible thing he’d done to me and all the other girls, and with as much strength as I could muster, I shoved my fist into his face.”

In the novel’s climactic scene, Summer feels a surge of strength that leads her to a physical attack on Clover, something she has been too afraid to try before now. This action demonstrates a turn in her character arc toward courage, hope, and self-preservation. This valiant attempt to save herself and the other Flowers at long last supports the theme of Resilience in the Face of Dire Circumstances.

“My name didn’t seem so wrong when he said it. It had meaning, and I remembered all the times he had called me before.”

The overall tone of Summer’s interior monologue in the falling action demonstrates that she realizes her recovery from trauma will be difficult. A key moment, however, toward the start of the healing process occurs when Lewis calls her by her nickname—"Sum”—in the hospital. Crucially, Lewis’s voice cuts through the Lily-fog that still holds Summer captive, and she can meet his eyes and accept his embrace.