The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die

Trust is another major theme in the narrative. Without trust, Cady would have never met Ty and would probably have been recaptured by Nowell and subsequently killed. Although she suffers from amnesia throughout the narrative and couldn’t determine who to trust, when Ty offers her help, though hesitant, she takes it. Throughout their ordeal, Cady wants Ty to leave so that he’s not drawn into the mess that’s engulfing her. Ty, however, refuses to leave Cady. He also knows that she can’t trust anyone, especially not the police. Due to this, the pair form an unlikely bond that blossoms into something more by the end of the novel.

Z-Biotech starts a smear campaign against Cady in an attempt to make her appear untrustworthy. This is to make her seem like a threat to others, and to show that whatever she might tell the police is a lie. Nowell and others paint Cady as a suicidal, homicidal drug addict. They make it seem like she’s involved in her parents’ absence and the death of Officer Dillow. If they’re able to succeed in making Cady untrustworthy, they have a better chance of having her not go to the police because no one will believe her story after they’ve seen the “official” story on her character.

Because Cady can’t remember who she is, she struggles through much of the narrative with whether or not she’s a trustworthy person. With her memory gone, she can’t remember if she really did the things she’s accused of. Again, Cady must rely on those she meets, like Ty and James, who see that, though they don’t know her well, she’s more innocent than the media project. By trusting Ty and her instincts in many situations, Cady is able to get her memory back and learns that she is in fact trustworthy. Moreover, she learns that she’s being painted as untrustworthy. The narrative ends with her and Ty together at her family’s cabin. This time, Cady must trust for a different reason. She and Ty have feelings for each other, and although they’ve both been through a lot, Cady must trust that they can get past these things and grow closer. The narrative ends with the suggestion that they can when they kiss each other.

Family is a strong driving factor in Cady wanting to regain her memory and figure out what has happened to both her and her family. Based on being tortured and the state of things, she wants more than anything to find her family and determine what’s happened. As such, her bond with her family, though she can’t remember it, is strong enough to warrant her concern and drive to reestablish this bond. As new developments arise, Cady responds to them in kind. She worries about the safety of her family, then is traumatized anew when she is told that her younger brother is dead. His death is reveled to be what caused Cady to lose her memories and retreat into a fugue state. When he’s later revealed to be alive but infected by the hantavirus, his safety is all that Cady cares about. She risks her own safety to go to Z-Biotech and find the vaccine to save Max. When human remains are found at the cabin in the woods, Cady is beside herself when she thinks that the remains might be her family. Also, trust comes into the equation when she falsely believes that “Aunt Liz” is her real aunt. She’s willing to trust Elizabeth because of both family ties and the desire to have an adult take over matters.

The narrative also highlights that family can include people who aren’t blood. Ty and James become like surrogate family by helping Cady in her moments of distress. Also, Ty helps Audrey when she’s homeless, and vice versa, underscoring how much friendship mirrors family and can be a stand-in for family. Even Ty and James’ relationship and their dog Spot highlights a familial bond akin to what families have. In this way, the narrative shows family as a unit that is there for someone during both good and bad times, and that this family offers support and doesn’t have to be blood.