The Orphanage by the Lake

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of rape, misogyny, and emotional abuse.

“I want to run, but if you want to be a female private investigator, you don’t have that luxury. That’s what they want. They want you to run. They want you to be afraid. They want you to quit. They want you to cry.”

In this quote, Hazel reveals her determined personality. This passage uses a parallel sentence structure; it repeats “they want you” across multiple sentences to create a sense of emphasis. The sentences stack up in a way that represents the multitude of male expectations against which Hazel stands defiant.

“She extends her hand and I shake it, feeling like I’ve just done a deal with the devil herself.”

When Hazel accepts Madeline’s case and agrees to search for Mia, she feels as if she has “done a deal with the devil.” Another term for a deal with the devil is a “Faustian bargain.” In a Faustian bargain, a person agrees to give up their soul in exchange for something in return, typically wealth. Hazel’s description of the deal in this way illustrates her reluctance to take the case. However, it is not a true Faustian bargain: Although the case is dangerous, the result of the deal is ultimately beneficial to Hazel not only financially, but in terms of her confidence as well.

“The assault doesn’t end when the attack ends. It stays with you, hiding behind every door you open, every corner you turn, even haunting your dreams. It’s happened to me before. It’s why I got into this business, and it’s why I won’t stop now or ever.”

This quote describes Hazel’s motivations for becoming a private detective. Here, she simply references an “assault.” She does not reveal the details of what happened to her until much later on in the narrative. Her use of the more generic term of “assault” rather than “rape” here illustrates how hard it is for Hazel to talk about what happened to her in detail, even when she reflects on it to herself.