Heaven

Uncle Jack is Marley’s biological father. When Marley finally learns this, the information shakes her understanding of her own identity and challenges her definition of family. After Jack’s wife, Christine, died in a car accident, he felt unable to care for the infant Marley (then called Monna), so he left her for his twin brother to raise. Jack’s decision to leave Marley behind indicates the depths of his sorrow upon losing Christine. The narrative implies that Christine’s death renders Jack unable to stay in one place for long; he therefore takes to the road, opting for a nomadic lifestyle.

Jack and Marley correspond through letters over the years, and Jack sometimes alludes to the pain that his decision to leave still causes him. His inner conflict is apparent when he writes, “I’ve been thinking lately that I should maybe settle down and stay in one place for more than a few months […] What must it be like to go home to […] [t]hings you love surrounded by the people you love” (30). Jack’s letters often have a philosophical or thoughtful tone, almost as if he is using his letters to Marley as a diary of his own thoughts and feelings. In this letter, for example, Jack articulates his desire to settle down after so many years of living on the road.

The irony is that Jack once had a stable, stationary life with Christine and the infant Marley, but when Christine died, he felt that his only option was to run from his pain rather than staying behind to face it and to raise his daughter himself. The author therefore uses Jack’s letters to convey a more nuanced sense of the man’s reflections and regrets. When Marley learns that Jack is her biological father, their correspondence takes on a very different tone, as Jack now has to face the consequences of his long-ago decision to leave his daughter behind. As he asks Marley, “Do you hate me, Marley? I was thinking yesterday by the river that if I was fourteen and lived in a small town and loved my family—I’d hate me. I have been worrying about it a lot” (120). This admission makes it clear that despite Jack’s long-held fear of addressing the tragedies and decisions of his past, he now yearns for the stability and comfort of family and connection and is striving to make amends with his daughter.

Notably, Jack offers no explanation for his decision to leave Marley in the wake of Christine’s death, and the text implies that he is not yet willing to acknowledge the pain of that decision to himself, let alone to Marley. His letters to her therefore take on a subtle beseeching tone, as if he is asking Marley for forgiveness by asking her whether she “hates” him. There is an inherent selfishness to this question, for he wants Marley to pardon him and relieve the guilt that he feels for leaving her. However, he also shows a mature understanding of how matters now stand when he reassures her, “I don’t have to be your uncle, Marley; but I certainly won’t ever try to be your dad. You have one who loves you, as I do” (120). Now that Marley knows the truth, Jack does not seek to take on a fatherly role in her life; he knows that his brother has raised Marley as his own.

Ultimately, despite Jack’s inability to be Marley’s father, he makes it clear in his letters that he loves Marley and wants the best for her. When the novel ends, Marley once more feels close to Uncle Jack as they meet in person and begin repairing their relationship. She will never think of him as a father, but the novel ends on a hopeful note indicating that their relationship will continue to grow and evolve.

Shoogy Maple is one of Marley’s best friends. She recently moved to Heaven with her family, whom she deems to be far more perfect that she could ever be. One of Shoogy’s defining characteristics is her strained relationship with her family. Marley’s perception of Shoogy’s family is therefore biased by Shoogy’s perspective. At first, Marley assumes that the Maples are the perfect family, mannequin-like and stiff, while Shoogy is more dynamic, bold, and outspoken.

However, the more time that Marley spends with Shoogy, the more she realizes the deeper context of Shoogy’s animosity toward her parents. Shoogy is implied to struggle with an undisclosed mental health condition that impacts her relationship with her family. She tells Marley that she used to participate in pageants but stopped when she had a panic attack onstage at age six. Shoogy, whose ability to perform depended upon spotting her mother in the crowd, crumpled under the pressure when she could not find her mother. This experience inflicted lasting trauma on Shoogy, as evidenced by her subsequent history of self-harm.

At first, Marley interprets Shoogy’s self-harm as a reaction to her family’s neglect and rejection. Later, Marley realizes that Shoogy’s resentment toward her family is rooted in her own low self-worth. The narrative implies that Shoogy’s anger toward her family is a projection of her own insecurities and is rooted in her lasting childhood trauma of failing to live up to the perceived perfection of her family.

As Marley grapples with her own familial struggles, Shoogy’s complicated relationship with her family helps redefine Marley’s understanding of what a family can be. Marley learns that Shoogy’s parents do not resent their daughter or reject her; instead, they simply love her for who she is. This dynamic becomes apparent when Mrs. Maple thanks Marley for befriending Shoogy and becomes emotional upon admitting that her daughter struggles to build relationships. At this point, Marley is forced to reconsider her assumptions about Shoogy’s family dynamics. Some of Shoogy’s actions (as when she turns up the music so loud that her mother has to shout) make Marley realize that Shoogy “can be mean” (116) to her family. As much as Marley tries to dislike the Maples, she realizes that family is far more complex than she has always believed. In turn, she becomes more willing to consider her own complex family in a more nuanced and forgiving light.