Just the Nicest Couple

Because Jake is missing/deceased at the novel’s opening, all character development comes from the memories of Nina, Jake’s coworkers, his friends, and his acquaintances (Christian and Lily). As the novel’s antagonistic figure, Jake puts his needs and desires before all others. Jake demands that Nina sacrifice her other obligations to prioritize being at his beck and call when he is home from work. Jake grew up in a house with patriarchal gender roles (his father worked as a neurosurgeon, while his mother tended to the home and family), and he expects to have the same life for himself. Nina asserts: “He isn’t used to being told no. Being told no is Jake’s kryptonite” (157). Jake epitomizes the danger of Justification for Violence, since he is violent when people disagree with him or fail to give him what he wants, exhibiting a sense of entitlement and lack of empathy for others.

Kubica indirectly characterizes Jake when Nina justifies Jake’s emotional detachment: “Jake has changed so much over the years. I blame it on his work because he’s so serious, so hardened all of the time [...]. It must do something to a person, to know whether his patients live or die is up to him” (154). Jake’s colleagues confirm that Jake has difficulty speaking with the families of patients who died while in his care. Kubica never directly explores whether or not Jake has the potential to grow into a kinder, more empathetic person. However, the indirect evidence shows that Jake does not hold himself accountable for harming others, and a lifetime of privilege and wealth has groomed Jake to be egocentric and unfeeling. 

As the novel’s second narrator and foil to Jake, Christian devotes his life to providing for and protecting his wife, Lily. Christian prioritizes Lily over everything else in his life. On several occasions, Christian leaves work early to comfort Lily while helping her cover up her altercation with Jake in Langley Woods. Although Christian’s adoration of Lily makes him a supportive and loving husband, he chooses only to see the good sides of Lily. Christian’s ignorance of Lily’s deceptive and cruel nature develops the theme of Appearance Versus Reality in Marriage. Only when Lily confesses to her infidelity does Christian learn to see all parts of Lily accurately.

Kubica explores Justification for Violence through Christian when he reassures Lily that she acted in self-defense during her altercation with Jake. Moreover, Christian thinks about killing Nina to protect his family from unfair prosecution. Christian dislikes the violent thoughts that invade his life, noticing them to be an unwelcome change in his values. Christian knows that he cannot justify harming an innocent person, even to protect those he loves most. In contrast, Jake attacked Lily for simply wanting to end their affair. The lead male characters are exact opposites.

After Lily betrays her husband and best friend, Kubica explores the ramifications of guilt while overcoming trauma through Lily. Lily displays guilt from the novel’s beginning when she rationalizes walking at Langley Park. Lily does have reason to feel guilty about Langley Park: She intended to meet Jake. When Christian drops everything to support Lily and help her conceal evidence, Lily asks, “[w]hy are you helping me like this when I did a terrible thing?” (95). Christian assumes that Lily is referring to hitting Jake with a rock. In reality, Lily's shame for her affair with Jake eats away at her, and this lays a subtle clue that is resolved in the novel’s denouement. She doesn’t feel worthy of Christian’s love and support because she betrayed his trust.

Lily’s guilty conscience interferes with her ability to overcome the trauma that she experienced during Jake’s attack. She can never thoroughly discuss what happened to her with anyone she loves because she would have to confess to her affair. Lily is left feeling jumpy and scared most of the time, exhibiting symptoms that resemble panic attacks. The emotional and physical stress that she experiences is magnified when she and Christian worry about the health of their unborn baby. However, Lily shows development in Overcoming Loss, Betrayal, and Trauma at the novel’s close when she invites Christian for dinner. Christian notes, “I know how much courage it takes for her to ask me” (351). Having confessed her infidelity to Christian, Lily (like Nina) faces the realities of her troubles head-on while working toward a potential reconciliation in the future.

Nina’s mother represents the ramifications of enforcing patriarchal gender roles in heterosexual marriage and child-rearing. Nina’s father abandons his family for another woman, fully expecting Nina’s mother to take on all the work necessary to raise their child. Nina recalls, “I forget sometimes that she had an entire life before I was born, when she was once young, adventurous and completely self-sufficient” (136). Nina’s mother loses all other sense of identity after being forced to raise Nina alone. The fact that she never receives a name illustrates how her entire existence revolves around being Nina’s mother; she was never allowed to be anything different.

Although unfair, the experience of raising Nina alone shaped Nina’s mother into an independent, resilient woman. As Nina observes of her mother, “[s]he’s no longer self-sufficient but, even now, she could walk for miles and easily keep up with me” (136). Nina’s mother is similar to Jake in that she wants Nina to herself and dislikes when things don’t go her way. Not one to lose control of a situation, Nina’s mother resorts to manipulation to spend more time with her daughter.

Nina’s mother contributes to the discussion of Justification for Violence when she kills Jake. Similar to how Christian nearly killed Nina to protect his family, Nina’s mother kills Jake to protect her daughter. Nina’s mother lived a complicated life as a single mom struggling to provide for her daughter. She sees Jake’s infidelity and emotional distance as directly threatening Nina’s well-being. Nina’s mother uses her own life experience to justify killing Jake, but the fact that she goes to prison and her health deteriorates imparts the message that her violence is unjustified.