If Something Happens to Me

Every major character’s identity in If Something Happens to Me is shaped by their role as a parent or child, underscoring the importance of family bonds. Through the actions of characters like Michael, Shane, and Gina, the novel explores the lengths to which parents will go to protect their children—even when these actions blur moral boundaries.

Michael exemplifies this parental devotion. After his wife’s death, he is a single parent, and he indulges his 14-year-old daughter, Taylor, even letting her illegally drive his car. He attempts to shield her from harsh realities, like her mother’s addiction and what that has cost him. His protective instinct reaches its peak when the O’Learys threaten his daughter’s life—Michael is even willing to kill to protect her. He bears the scars of his time fighting in the army and has vowed to never kill again: “He’d sworn after Iraq that he’d never take another life” (271). Yet, for his daughter’s sake, he abandons that vow and his moral compass, killing several people, beginning with Patrick and his companion; ultimately, Michael sacrifices his own life to end the threat posed by Shane and Gina.

Shane’s and Gina’s character arcs are a stark contrast to Michael’s yet share the same core of parental love. Despite being a violent mobster, Shane cares deeply for his son, Anthony. Like Michael, Shane, too, tries to shield his beloved child from the dark side of his parents’ lives. He works to get Anthony the best of everything, including a top-tier education, aiming to give Anthony a life that is far-removed from his own. When Anthony dies by suicide, Shane and Gina become consumed by their desire to seek revenge on those who hurt him. Their obsession with vengeance results in violence and multiple deaths, ultimately including their own. Their deep love for their child morphs into obsession and violence when they lose him.

Other characters in the novel are also similarly motivated by parental devotion. For instance, Mac helps his daughter, Poppy, get a job, and Ryan’s parents spare no expense on legal support for their son, even declaring that they would “spend every last penny [they] had to help” him (197). Chaz regrets not being a good father to Patrick, but he works to make it up by being a doting grandfather to Patrick’s son. Thus, parental love is a driving force for many characters in the novel.

In the novel’s epilogue, Chaz ruefully recalls the old aphorism: “[I]f you’re seeking revenge, dig two graves—one for your enemy and one for yourself” (314). This adage encapsulates one of the novel’s central themes: Violence begets violence, creating a cycle that is difficult—if not impossible—to escape.

Shane O’Leary’s character arc offers the most overt example of violence’s generational toll. Throughout his life, he inflicts harm on others, provoking responses that ultimately lead to his own violent end. Shane’s father, the head of a crime family, taught him from a young age to respond to problems with violence. Shane never had the chance to break away from this worldview as his father’s abuse reinforced the idea that power and violence are linked. Shane’s story shows how early exposure to violence limits a person’s choices and traps them, making it impossible for them to break the cycle even if they might want to.

Similarly, Chaz finds himself entrapped in a cycle of violence and struggles to extract himself. His own violence has corrupted his son, Patrick. Recognizing this, Chaz is unwilling to avenge his son’s death. Instead, he works to ensure that his grandson Davie can be spared from this cycle. Chaz even reflects that Patrick’s death “is the only thing that saved Davie” (225)—he understands that, had Patrick lived, he would have likely passed on the same harsh and violent worldview to Davie. Chaz’s decision to not seek revenge for Patrick’s death is a conscious effort to shield Davie from the toxic legacy of violence. Though he manages to save Davie, he himself succumbs to violence, showing how violence can be very hard to escape: Chaz pays the price for his own life of violence as the Sabatino crime family kills him in revenge for a murder he committed a decade earlier.

While the antagonists of the narrative—the O’Learys and Chaz—are the primary vehicles for the cycle of violence, the novel extends this theme to other characters, as well. For instance, Michael, a former soldier, has been shaped by his experiences in Iraq. As much as he tries to leave that life behind, he turns back to violence to save his daughter. Although Michael’s actions are motivated by love, the novel shows that even well-intentioned violence perpetuates the same cycles. Additionally, bullying is a form of psychological and sometimes physical violence. Taylor’s participation in bullying is what entangles her in the O’Learys’ world of pain and retribution. In this way, the novel shows that cycles of harm contribute to a wider pattern of violence.