Where's Molly

As Cage and Molly’s relationship develops, Carlton mobilizes the tropes of dark romance. A defining characteristic of Carlton’s work, and of dark romance broadly, is the inclusion of intentionally “deviant” or unusual sexual situations. Reflecting The Coexistence of Beauty and Horror, Cage and Molly’s romance is entrenched in morbidity. Cage thinks, “when she begins to saw through the corpse’s head, I can’t help but feel my fascination with her deepening” (63), linking his romantic feelings directly with the dismemberment of the corpse. Molly engages with this blurred line between morbidity and romance, smearing blood from the corpse on herself as part of her seductive efforts. Additionally, Cage choking Molly with a belt, having sex in the barn with the pigs, and frequent use of phrasing implying destruction, ownership, and domination to introduce elements of bondage play to Molly and Cage’s relationship, epitomizing the coexistence of pain and pleasure. The nature of their sexuality is paired with the lives they have led; Carlton links Cage and Molly’s involvement with Legion, including killing, dismembering, and torturing others, with vibrant and engaging sexual activity.

When Cage has an orgasm, he bites Molly “[d]irectly over the scar beneath [her] eye” (85), which relates the symbolism of Molly’s scars and her relationship with Cage to the theme of Transformation Through and in Spite of Trauma. The scars are the result of Raymond sexually assaulting Molly, during which “he still had teeth, and he lost his mind to whatever drug he injected into his veins” (96), leaving the bitemark scars on her body. The scars are a symbol of Molly’s trauma, since they act as a brand or mark of ownership and damage. The bitemarks signal both that Molly was held by her parents against her will and that she was betrayed by her parents, who sold her into human trafficking Molly’s trauma is encapsulated in the physical reminder of the scars. After biting the scar, Cage tells Molly, “I hope you think of me next time you look in the mirror” (85), identifying his action as an attempt at reclaiming Molly’s body.

Cage’s desire to help Molly work through her trauma is complicated by The Narrow Line Between Obsession and Love, as his aims also include owning Molly for himself. When Cage demands that Molly tell him who her last remaining abuser is, he says that he wants to be the only man alive who knows how it feels to have sex with Molly, noting: “And if I’m sharing this knowledge with a single soul still walking this earth, then I will be removing them from it” (106). Cage’s jealousy follows two motivations: first, killing Molly’s last abuser would act as a permanent removal of her abusive past, helping to heal her trauma; but second, it would emphasize Cage’s ownership of Molly. Both motivations are presented as valid in the text, as Cage wants to both own and protect Molly, conflating obsession and love while integrating the violent nature of their occupations.

Molly’s revenge against Raymond displays one of the few times that Molly confronts her trauma directly. Molly’s pattern of behavior thus far in the text leans toward fleeing from conflict, even though her flight is often necessary, such as fleeing Francesca’s home. Returning to her home in Montana, Molly attacks Raymond with her mother’s mug, then she gouges out Raymond’s eyes. Regarding the mug, Molly thinks: “It’s likely been there since she died—forgotten. Just like her” (98), imbuing the mug with a symbolic association with Molly’s mother, whom Molly sees as another victim of her father’s drug dependence and physical abuse. By attacking her father with her mother’s mug, Molly is creating a united front, including herself, Layla, and her mother, to stand up to her father’s power and control in the household. The figurative significance of Molly gouging out Raymond’s eyes is that she removes his ability to subject her to his objectifying gaze.