Where Sleeping Girls Lie

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2024

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1, Chapter 9

Part 1, Chapters 10-17

Part 2, Chapters 18-22

Part 2, Chapters 23-31

Part 3, Chapters 32-40

Part 3, Chapters 41-49

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Alfred Nobel Academy

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of gender discrimination, racism, suicide, rape, and sexual violence.

Alfred Nobel Academy itself is an important symbol of how appearances are often deceiving. It is also a reflection of the importance of closely examining and questioning the past instead of blindly following tradition. ANA is a “giant castle-like boarding school” with “brownstone walls, fancy peaks, and crisp greenery” (3). The grounds and school buildings are a stunning mix of “old and new” structures, indicating how some things are changing, but the school continues to honor and cling to old ways. History is ever-present at ANA. The school’s old buildings and other relics of the past, such as the hidden underground bunkers from World War II, represent the continued presence of history and tradition, as well as the school’s reluctance to acknowledge that history and understand how it continues to affect and influence the present.

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From the moment Sade arrives, she is suspicious of ANA’s perfect veneer. She feels as if the school is “too good to be true” (14) and knows all too well “that wealth [comes] with an abundance of secrets” (7). The sense that the old buildings are haunted indicates how the ghosts of ANA’s history of misogyny and white male privilege continue to terrorize the school. However, these secrets are well hidden behind ANA’s glamorous exterior. This is similar to how the wrong-doings of predatory boys at the institution are hidden behind their outward appearance as charming, wealthy, athletic young men. Nevertheless, “a lot of beautiful people [have] rotten souls” (212); appearances can be deceiving.

The Fishermen

At Alfred Nobel Academy, many of the boys are part of a secret group called “The Fishermen,” which consists of a group chat where the boys “post really vile things about girls at the school,” including sharing “private pictures” of girls at school that are subject to disparaging, sexist comments (251). Many of the Fishermen, like Jude, have raped and assaulted girls, and others, like August, might not indulge in physical violence but are implicated by their complicity and refusal to speak up against their friend’s actions. The group makes a sharp distinction between how the boys behave in public and when they are alone with one another. Jude, for example, is flirtatious and charming with Sade, sending numerous flowers and taking her on romantic dates. However, in the chat, he refers to her as “frigid as hell” and indicates his plan to drug and rape her at an upcoming party (252).

The group is named after the school’s founder, John Fisher, “an old white guy” who “was not that fond of women or people of color” (10). In this respect, the Fishermen represent the legacy of the school’s misogynistic and racist values and how they continue to harm female students and safeguard male students’ ability to take predatory actions. On the other hand, the name “The Fishermen” has a more symbolic meaning. It suggests that the boys are in the business of hunting or fishing for girls, symbolizing how they dehumanize and take advantage of women. Finally, fishing is also a traditionally gendered activity that is generally undertaken by men and represents a space for male bonding. The chat reveals how these spaces can quickly become places for patriarchal ideas to flourish.

Jamila’s Ghost

Beginning a few weeks after Jamila’s suicide, Sade begins seeing visions of her twin sister’s ghost. Dressed in a white nightgown with long braids like Sade’s, Jamila’s ghost climbs into bed every night and holds her tight. She also sees Jamila’s body in the water when she swims; it is a vision that shocks and frightens her. Although seeing Jamila’s body in the pool often sends Sade into a state of panic, the ghostly presence at night also “[brings] her comfort” and “[makes] her feel less alone” (34). Jamila’s ghost is a symbol of Sade’s unresolved guilt and trauma, and the comfort she sometimes takes in these visions illustrates how her trauma has come to define her. She holds onto the visions of her sister because she no longer knows who she is without the associated grief and guilt. Nevertheless, as Sade begins to heal, the sightings of her sister’s ghost start to diminish. With Jude dead and the Fishermen revealed, Sade can finally swim without seeing Jamila’s body in the water, indicating that she has begun to let go of her grief and sense of responsibility for her sister’s death.