How Does Evie's Change In The Girls

Emma Cline’s debut novel, The Girls, follows 14-year-old Evie and her fall into a 1970s cult loosely based off the Manson Cult. Evie starts out as an insecure, self-conscious, and idolizing adolescent with low self-esteem, and throughout the novel none of these defining characteristics change. Both her relationship with Suzanne and interactions as an adult reveal that she is still that naïve and self-conscious 14-year-old living in the past.

Although the book is narrated by adult Evie, the main focus is her experience as a fourteen-year-old. It becomes immediately apparent that she is enveloped in how others think of her and craves being noticed. “I waited to be told what was good about me. [...] All that time I had spent readying myself, the articles that taught me life was really just a waiting room until someone noticed you- the boys had spent that time becoming themselves.” (Cline pp.28) This quote truly emphasizes Evie's low self-esteem and what kind of an effect it had on not only her but other girls in the ranch. Evie puts her self-worth into the hands of others and craves validation and acceptance of any kind, all she wishes is to be seen as more “sexless figure.” Diving in deeper, she shows many more signs of low self-esteem. Looking

One might think that after their love interest viciously murders innocent people, that they would become disgusted with them and even come to hate them. This is not the case for Evie. Just like when she was younger, she still tends to romanticize her actions and whatever interactions they had. Evie believes that when Suzanne pushed her out of the van before the murders that Suzanne was doing this because she wanted what was best for Evie. Evie saw this act as a gift when it was most likely because Evie was a liability. Perhaps one of the most horrendous things Evie does is glamorize Suzannes