We Are the Brennans

“But if she went home, she would open the email from Jackie and stare at the photo again, and that thought was too damn painful.”

This passage uses ambiguity and foreshadowing to provide suspense at the source of Sunday’s grief, trauma, and her and Jackie’s secret. It also introduces The Negative Impact of Secrets and Lies, showing how Sunday’s secret has caused her to make poor decisions to distract herself from her loneliness and guilt.

“Now she’d have to settle back in, reacquaint herself with people. It would be harder to avoid the faces and places she didn’t want to see. At least the one face that was still long gone; Jackie had confirmed it. The family’s house in West Manor had been sold. And the Penny Whistle Pub was closed down now, converted to a small market. That helped.”

This quote uses foreshadowing to hint that the person Sunday did not want to see was Billy Walsh, who left West Manor years before and whose family’s house is later revealed to have been sold. The quote also foreshadows the reveal of the Penny Whistle Pub as the location where Billy attacked Sunday.

“Kale was practically a Brennan anyway. He’d grown up four blocks away and spent the bulk of his time in their home. Mickey had never minded. What was another kid, especially one who was so unassuming, when there were already four.”

This quote shows The Importance of Family Unity by showing the Brennans’ loyalty to Kale as an adopted member. Kale had always been a family member to the Brennans due to his unstable home situation as a child; thus, he is extremely close to them. This closeness leads him to choose the Brennans over Vivienne because they had always been devoted to him and he had always been in a better emotional state with them, especially Sunday.