Darling Girls

“‘How do you deal with your feelings in the real world?’ Norah had asked.

‘You bury them,’ Jessica replied. ‘Good and deep.’”

Early in the novel, Jessica reveals her worldview to Norah, signaling that the only way to find happiness is to ignore negative emotions. Her urge to bury her feelings also reflects The Long-Term Impact of Trauma, for she has endured so much as a child that she has long since lost the capability to process her emotions in a healthy way. Her drug addiction also indicates her impulse to “bury” her feelings rather than dealing with them.

“His comment delighted Alicia to no end. In her experience, when kids felt comfortable enough to diss you, it meant you were doing something right.”

Through this statement, Alicia demonstrates her knowledge of and empathy for traumatized children, who often can only relate to someone by teasing them. Alicia’s compassionate awareness acts as a direct contrast with Miss Fairchild’s malicious cruelty and petty jealousy, for Miss Fairchild’s narcissistic tendencies prevent her from tolerating any form of teasing; she takes herself far too seriously to allow such liberties.

“Apparently panic felt quite a lot like excitement, and if you told yourself you were excited you could trick your feelings.”

Jessica is quite familiar with the feeling of panic, but she does not know how to handle excitement, due to her depression and the harmful effects of her childhood at Wild Meadows. Unfortunately, the similarities of these emotions do not make her panic any easier to handle, and these early instances of her emotional volatility foreshadow her eventual emotional meltdown and subsequent overdose.