Tell the Wolves I'm Home

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2012

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-21

Chapters 22-37

Chapters 38-52

Chapters 53-66

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Themes

Jealousy in Triangular Relationships

Content Warning: This section contains references to anti-gay bias, the stigmatization of HIV/AIDS, and death.

Throughout the novel, several close relationships exist involving two characters and leaving out a third character, thus creating resentment, sadness, and jealousy for the third character. Greta, for example, is keenly aware that she is on the outside of Finn and June’s close connection. Though Finn repeatedly invites Greta along on outings he plans with June, Greta declines, feeling as though he does so out of a sense of obligation—that it is June alone, not Greta, with whom he wishes to spend time. From June’s perspective, this special connection is one that Greta has opted out of, and June values the way in which she is able to share things with Finn that she cannot share with others. Greta, however, regards Finn and June’s connection as drawing June away from Greta. Greta is unable to imagine or perceive harmony among the three of them, suggesting that to Greta, June has chosen between two important people in her life.

June herself experiences similar jealousy when she learns of Toby and the important role he played in Finn’s life. She is angered that Finn shared a close connection with a person other than her. She is initially resistant to sharing memories of Finn with Toby, regarding Toby as invading upon her special bond with Finn. In this way, June feels toward Toby the same vitriol that Greta feels toward Finn. At times, June fears that Toby’s presence in Finn’s life means that Finn did not truly care about her as much as she had believed he did. Like Greta, June cannot find a harmonious balance in the triangle of herself, Finn, and Toby—she wants the memory of Finn entirely to herself. As the plot progresses, however, a true friendship develops between Toby and June. Greta thus replaces her jealousy of Finn with jealousy of Toby.

Toby is also perceived as an interloper in the relationship between Finn and the girls’ mother, Danielle. As children, Finn and Danielle enjoyed a close bond and a meaningful friendship. Danielle initially envisioned herself as a painter as well, working and living alongside Finn. When Finn left the country and met Toby, however, that connection was severed, and Danielle regards herself as having been replaced by Toby. Her anger at Toby’s invasion on her relationship with Finn heightens when she perceives Toby as being responsible for Finn’s AIDS diagnosis. It is not until the end of the novel that she is able to perceive the hurt she has brought to Toby. Just as June cares for Toby as he dies as a tribute to Finn, Danielle asks Toby’s forgiveness for the malice and jealousy she has harbored toward him.

The Damaging Effects of Stigma and Misinformation

Finn’s death is significant not only because of his close relationship with June and his young age but also because he dies of AIDS. Importantly, Finn contracts the virus before scientists know much about it and when it is primarily perceived to affect men who have sex with men. Because the modes of transmission include sex and intravenous drug use, AIDS is stigmatized and associated with behavior people often deem immoral. Coupled with this is Finn’s identity as gay man, which is also deemed socially unacceptable in the 1980s, before there is any widespread social acceptance of LGBTQ+ people; the Elbuses refer to Toby not as Finn’s boyfriend but via the euphemism “special friend,” indicating a hesitance to acknowledge their romantic involvement and partnership. In these ways, and because there is no known cure nor treatment for AIDS during Finn’s life, Finn is regarded with contempt. Many people he would interact with on a daily basis would likely avoid close contact with him for fear of “catching” AIDS.

Because so much misinformation is circling about concerning the disease, the Elbus family is not immune to perpetuating this stigma. June initially fears that she might contract AIDS from Finn kissing her on her head; likewise, Danielle panics when she sees Greta using Finn’s lip balm. When the New York Times article about Finn’s final painting is released, Finn’s illness becomes a topic of curiosity among acquaintances of the Elbus family. There is an understanding that AIDS, due to its stigma, is a taboo topic, yet a few people cautiously pose questions to June about Finn and the disease. Generally, June seeks to separate Finn from the disease, believing that it should not define him. Still, she continues to fear what she does not understand. It is only when June gets to know Toby that her fear of the disease lessens. Because she becomes close to him before he informs her that he also has AIDS, June is able to regard him first and foremost as a person.

Greta’s revelation that Toby and Finn met when Toby was in prison highlights another layer of stigma behind the Elbus family’s scapegoating of Toby. Without knowing the details surrounding Toby’s incarceration, the family finds it easy to moralize about Toby’s nature—Greta calls him an “ex-con”—and dismiss his role in Finn’s life, along with blaming him for Finn’s death. June, however, seems to recognize intuitively that this blame does not accomplish anything. In the posthumous note she receives from Finn, June learns that Toby is entirely alone. Though the reasons are not made clear, it is possible that the stigma of AIDS has kept his family and other friends distant. June caring for Toby at the very end of his life parallels the way in which Toby cared for Finn, demonstrating how friendship and love can overcome stigma and misinformation.

The Power of Secrets

Throughout the novel, secrets kept are sometimes harmful, creating divisions between characters, and sometimes instrumental in drawing characters together. June frequently speaks of Greta having more information than she does—this often pertains to innocuous school gossip, but Greta’s secrets are sometimes consequential, such as when she learns of Finn’s AIDS diagnosis before June. Greta seeks a kind of authority over June by insisting that she possesses secret information but refusing to tell June. By the end of the novel, it is evident that this is one of the ways Greta attempts to obtain June’s attention, as she feels jealous and threatened by June’s friendship first with Finn and then with Toby.

The novel’s most significant secret is June meeting face-to-face with Toby. As her parents have explicitly forbidden contact with him, June knows that the consequences for their learning of this secret could be dire. This secret is instrumental in bringing tension to the novel, as the stakes are raised each time June meets with Toby. This tension reaches a climax when Toby is discovered with Greta in the woods. Greta’s willingness to keep June’s secret by lying about Toby’s presence and accepting responsibility—insisting it was her, not June, who engaged with him—shows her loyalty for June. This secret parallels the sisters’ altering of Finn’s painting in the bank vault. These additions are made without the knowledge of their parents, who would certainly be angry and punish the girls if they were to know. Indeed, when this secret is found out, the immediate repercussion is that June fears some harm will come to Greta, as she is unable to meet her in the woods after the performance. The unraveling of this secret, then, ultimately leads to the revelation of June’s secret friendship with Toby.

By the time June is certain that Toby has very little life left, she is willing for this secret to come to light. She has been punished for the alterations of the painting and escaped potential punishment for sending Toby to retrieve Greta but is willing to risk the consequences for Toby’s sake. She recognizes that the benefit of showing Toby that he is loved and cared for—and, thus, fulfilling Finn’s request—outweighs the repercussions of violating her parents’ orders. June’s mother comes to accept that Toby is not dangerous and is instead worthy of compassionate care at the end of his life. Not only does she not punish June for bringing Toby into their home to die, but she also makes her own additions to Finn’s painting. Ultimately, June’s secret relationship with Toby brings the family closer, cementing Danielle’s connection to June and Greta permanently.