Mystic River

Chapter 12 begins to work through Katie’s death as the cops offer preliminary theories and try to piece together the limited evidence. The chapter also briefly alludes to the event that prompted Sean’s suspension, which indicates a potential vulnerability or danger that Sean poses in his professional position. When Friel alludes to “the incident” and that Sean’s “momentary lapse of judgement” was in fact “[s]everal” lapses, the text highlights Sean’s mistake as a series of choices, rather than a single incident (142). This, depending on the nature of the issue, suggests that Sean has a darker history that directly affects his ability to work, which could potentially obscure the progress of Katie’s case.

The conversation between Sean and Friel also briefly highlights the class division in town, and the narrative is again infused with a sense of class consciousness that is divisive and contributes to growing hostilities between neighborhoods. Sean’s instinctual reaction to correct Friel, to point that he’s not from the Flats but the Point, reveals his need to separate himself from the implied inferiority of the Flats. This is more indicative of the entire town’s mindset than it is of Sean’s own personal flaws; the town’s socioeconomical organization has a significant impact on individual identity formation and interpersonal relationships.

The chapter also demonstrates the impact of shock and grief on a person through Jimmy and Annabeth’s initial reactions to Katie’s death. As Jimmy hopes that he’d simply misinterpreted the look on Sean’s face that told him Katie is dead, the novel foreshadows his pain through his resolve to not accept Katie’s death until seeing her body. Only when Jimmy is forced to look directly at Katie’s body is he forced to accept the truth and utter those exact words. This demonstrates the nature of grief; that it will always begin first with denial. Jimmy’s inability to accept the clues surrounding him is a survival mechanism designed to protect him for just a few moments more.

Chapter 13, while focusing on the effects of shock, explores lasting psychological effects of childhood trauma through Jimmy’s assertion that he caused Katie’s murder by not getting in the car with Dave. Though feeling responsible for the death of a loved one is quite common during grief, Jimmy’s specific rationalization reveals that day has always haunted Jimmy. Similarly, Sean’s history of obsessing over that day reveals a parallel line of thinking; that day irrevocably changed him, causing the “insubstantial nature of his character” (157). Both men see that event as what altered the course of their lives and will always influence what happens to them and those they love.

Trauma is studied in a different way through Whitey, who argues that pedophilia is a “transmittable disease” (165). Whitey’s callous account is a gross misunderstanding of the cycle of violence that abusers can—not always—imprint upon their victims; that many victims of abuse internalize their trauma and some of that unaddressed turmoil can manifest in perpetuating the same abuse they endured. This works dualistically for the chapter; first, in representing the legacy of trauma and second, by alluding to Dave, as a victim of the very abuse Whitey is speaking on, as having the potential to perpetuate a cycle of violence. The novel consistently aligns Dave with Katie’s murder, as though to make him a suspect, and Whitey’s claim is another piece of unsubstantiated suspicion placed—albeit, indirectly—onto Dave. Finally, the chapter introduces the importance of revenge in the novel through Val’s offer to kill Bobby; the interaction makes it clear that, whoever killed Katie, will pay for it.

Chapter 14 makes a display of the effects of silence through Eve and Diane’s reluctant interrogation; in refusing to speak directly about who Katie was seeing or what her plans are, the friends only make it more difficult to discern what happened to her. Eve’s description of Katie’s encounter with Bobby, where he dangled her over a three-floor drop, reveals the very real danger Katie faced from Bobby—that her reason for fleeing was a matter of survival. The most significant part of the chapter, though, comes in Sean’s reflections of his apathy and the consequential dissolution of his marriage. First, Sean’s inability to feel anything about Katie’s death emphasizes the psychological and emotional effects of his job. Sean’s apathy, though, also works to highlight the frequency of these events, that his “weary lack of hope” (186) comes from the knowledge that traumatic and fatal events will always happen, that there will always be those wanting to inflict pain. Finally, the chapter reveals that Lauren not only had an affair but left seven months pregnant, suggesting that Sean’s suspension is related. His silence on the subject is mirrored in Lauren’s silence when she calls.