The Darkest Child

Content Warning: The source material includes racial slurs and ableist and anti-gay language, which is replicated in this guide only in direct quotes.

Houses symbolize families in many stories, and the physical state of the house often reveals the residents’ health, well-being, and fate. Whereas houses that are safe, clean, welcoming, and beautiful may symbolize the health and emotional well-being of the family residing there, houses that are dilapidated, decaying, dark, and unsafe often symbolize emotional unrest within the family. In short, the state of the house often symbolizes the state of its residents. The Quinns’ house is unsafe, decaying, too small, outdated, isolated, and devoid of light; all of these characteristics reflect problems in their family dynamics. As Tangy notes, “Our house stood alone on a hill off Penyon Road, about half a mile outside the city limits. It was old, crippled, and diseased—an emblem of poverty and neglect” (7). The physical smallness of the Quinn house, coupled with its lack of light, electricity, and indoor plumbing, symbolizes how the children’s needs are not being met, nor are Rozelle’s. The decaying state of the house symbolizes how the family is plagued by extensive multigenerational trauma. The fact that the house is set apart from other houses symbolizes the isolation each member of the family feels, despite living together in close quarters.