The Quarry Girls: A Thriller

“I’d later wonder if that’s what cursed us, our boldness, our joy, but in that moment, it felt too good to stop.”

Heather uses foreshadowing again to reference the impending violence she and her friends will face at the hands of men. In this instance, she questions whether their determination to be brave and happy invited such violence into their lives. This speculation is loaded with irony given that the girls simply pursue joy—Laurey emphasizes the word with italics—which cannot reasonably provoke someone to violence.

“Sometimes I even imagined myself the wife of this house […] He was managing the world out there, and at the end of the day, his reward was that he got to return to his castle, where I spoiled him.”

Heather fantasizes about living within the gender expectations for women at the time which, as Heather reveals here, define women as caretakers of both their homes and husbands. Though she is still a child, she is assuming an adult female role, reflecting the ways Pantown’s girls’ childhoods are taken from them. Heather also assumes this gendered labor would be done primarily to please her husband, something she has learned from her mother, as many women in Pantown have.

“All three of us felt it, oily black gunk oozing out along with the twangy music and the growling laughs […] but Junie didn’t sense the threat.”

In this quote, Laurey uses vivid, visceral imagery to build tension and hint that a turn in the narrative is coming for the main characters. The danger is characterized as slimy, dark, and dirty—something palpable the girls can feel—and the men are once again characterized as animals through their “growling.” Junie, because of her innocence, is unaware of the dangers that Claude, Heather, and Brenda feel, which foreshadows Junie’s inability to sense the danger she faces in the novel’s climax.

“A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume.”

Heather hears Father Adolpho saying this in her head after she witnesses Maureen in Sheriff Nillson’s basement and after Brenda makes her promise they won’t say anything. The placement of this quote signifies the role that Pantown’s leaders play in using their reputations and social standing to pressure people into silence. Here, religious institutions help perpetuate violence against women while also blaming victims if their secrets are discovered. This statement is also sexist in nature, comparing women to objects like perfume.

“In that handshake, a piece of Brenda closed off to me and me to her, and we both turned away from Maureen.”

Heather recognizes, in hindsight, that she and Brenda betray themselves and Maureen when they keep her molestation a secret. This behavior, Heather later identifies, is learned and is the source of the violence against their friends and their mothers. The handshake symbolizes their initiation into this web of sexist oppression.

“This loser had made a biological act so imperative that he was willing to go to prison to feel the same relief he could get with his own hand.”

Beth realizes how small Ed really is when he kidnaps and rapes her. She uses derisive language to discuss the absurdity of Ed’s violence, driven by sexual impulse. While this quote doesn’t use the animalistic language of others, it still likens Ed to an animal, driven by pure biological impulse rather than reason. It is at this point that Beth begins to gain her power back from Ed.

“He’d said a woman needed to be able to take care of herself in this world, that he didn’t want me to ever have to rely on somebody else. Then he called in a favor to get me the position.”

Though Heather’s father tells her he doesn’t want her to rely on anyone to take care of herself, he uses his power to get her a job. Though this is not uncommon for a father to do for his daughter, his claim that Heather shouldn’t have to rely on anyone while simultaneously forcing her to rely on him reveals his power as a man (over women) in Pantown.

“The killer always comes up with a reason that makes sense to him, but killing a man is killing a man, whether you’re a cop or a soldier or some shitty hobo with a shiv.”

Ed’s opinion about the death penalty explores the ambiguities of justice—and who has the right to dispense it. This quote is ironic since Ed justifies his own killings because of his breakup with his first girlfriend, but he knows that he is killing to kill, something that, he points out, the law seems to deny. His references to cops and soldiers here foreshadow the Sheriff and DA’s participation in child sexual abuse and allude to systemic sexual violence more generally.

“You can’t live in the dark and feel good about yourself.”

Heather remembers this phrase when she first enters the tunnels and later remembers that her mother originally said it to Mrs. Hansen before their friendship ended. The quote foreshadows the eventual reveal that Mrs. Hansen slept with Heather’s father, which destroyed their relationship and drove Constance deeper into her illness. It’s also symbolic of the secrecy plaguing Pantown and the way its insidious nature corrupts those who participate in it.

“Good women keep their homes clean, and good neighbors mind their own business, honey.”

When Heather asks her father to help Mrs. Hansen clean her home, he responds swiftly, both critiquing Gloria’s femininity and character while simultaneously lecturing Heather about how he feels good citizens should behave. This quote is evidence of the rigid societal expectations of the time for both women and citizens in “polite” society—good women do their job, and good people keep to themselves. This is self-serving advice, as his predation relies on silence and secrecy. The word “honey” adds one final note of condescension to his quote, situating himself as a knowledgeable figure above his daughter.

“In our neighborhood, the problem wasn’t the person who made the mistake; it was the person who acknowledged the truth.”

Heather narrates this reality of Pantown when she reveals the story of her accident—a significant instance of child abuse that resulted from her mother’s mental health disorder, worsened by her father’s extramarital affair. The social guidelines that expect the people of Pantown to keep problems “inside the home” also allow perpetrators to continue their crimes, and this results in sickness that spreads through the community. In this instance, Gary Cash continues his affairs while Heather and Constance suffer for it. In the larger narrative, the secrets women keep from each other—like extramarital affairs and domestic violence—breed further violence that results, eventually, in Brenda and Maureen’s deaths.

“This whole damn neighborhood […] no one here cares about the girls, not the ones who speak out. I bet Beth McCain was another one they couldn’t keep quiet, like Maureen.”

Maureen’s mother, Gloria, foreshadows the truth that Heather eventually learns: Many men in Pantown use their power to manipulate and abuse women and then cover it up. Gloria assumes that Maureen and Beth have been victimized by men in Pantown, and yet she still doesn’t tell Heather the entire truth, showing just how entrenched the people of Pantown are in this dark culture of secrecy.

“Few of them would go so far as kidnapping, sure, but every one of them was after someone they could make feel less than, someone they imagined was beneath them, and they believed every woman was beneath them.”

Beth examines the intentions of men like Ed, who could kidnap, rape, and murder women. She understands it‘s about power, and through the violence inflicted upon her, the very real implications of the belief that women are the second sex are explicated.

“This town grinds girls up […] It’s insatiable. Take ‘em whole or take ‘em in pieces, but it gets all of us. I should have told Mo. I should have warned her.”

Gloria realizes that secrecy didn’t protect her daughter because no one’s daughters are safe in Pantown. She uses metaphors comparing girls to meat—“grinds girls up,” “whole,” “in pieces”—to illustrate how society dehumanizes women. This system is perpetuated by silence, and Gloria alludes to the fact that through solidarity and sharing information, women can help keep each other safe.

“You‘re sure it was him? We’re talking about a man’s reputation here. His career. You cannot make a mistake.”

When Heather tells her father about witnessing Maureen’s rape by older men in the basement, he focuses instead on Sheriff Nillson’s reputation, prioritizing it over Maureen’s well-being. Though Heather doesn’t realize it, her father already knows that Sheriff Nillson was in the basement because he was there, too. This quote reveals the privilege men grant themselves through an exploitation of justice, and Gary wields his position to protect himself and his fellow abusers.

“Ed and probably even Ricky, you can’t ever change men like them […] women always try, but men like that are born bad.”

Gary’s comment about the nature of Ed and Ricky reveals an underlying question throughout the narrative about whether violent men are created or born. Gary is lying about his involvement with a child sexual abuse ring, so the narrative complicates his black-and-white statement. By contrast, the text asserts that misogyny is crafted and maintained societally, and men are shaped by the societies in which they are raised.

“That’s how I felt, like the more I scrubbed at the surface of things, the dirtier I became.”

Heather begins to realize the weight of truth as she seeks answers to Maureen’s death. As she continues to explore the nature of Maureen’s experience with the older men of Pantown, she begins to realize how much they have to hide and lose. This quote symbolizes the layers of untruth hidden beneath the symbolically clean, “normal” surface of her neighborhood.

“She was the same age as my mom, midthirties. She was still pretty.”

Heather thinks that her mother’s age, in her mid-thirties, might age a woman out of her beauty since she refers to her as “still” pretty. Heather’s assumption that a woman loses her beauty past a certain age reflects the misogynistic obsession with women’s youth, particularly since so many men in the novel exploit the youngest characters in the book.

“Rumor is a termite. It will eat your home one grain at a time if you let it. I will not have you kids destroy what I’ve built, do you understand?”

Sheriff Nillson feigns ignorance and wields superiority over Heather to protect his reputation. He uses metaphorical language to compare his career to a home and rumors to termites. Though Heather knows the truth—not mere rumors—this comparison illustrates Nillson’s power in their community. He can use his influence to treat her like an insect.

“I’d wanted him to stay home to comfort me. I’d thought I’d die if he didn’t, and here he was, offering me nothing. Not even that. He was asking things of me. Taking. Taking taking taking.”

Heather’s realization that she cannot rely on her father sinks in when she goes to him for comfort and realizes she cannot find it. This illustrates the power dynamics between men and women under patriarchy, where women ultimately must serve men. Ironically, traditional gender relations dictate that men should protect women, and her father proves himself incapable of doing so. This underlines the danger Gary presents to all of the women in Pantown.

“They all had to pay the Pantown price, and every one of you bears responsibility.”

Constance’s accusation of the Pantown community reveals a larger critique within the narrative—systemic social failures play a part in the violence intrinsic to misogynistic violence. Both the responsibility and harms from this system are collectively felt.

“What was I thinking, needing my mom? I knew better.”

Heather yearns for and seeks comfort from her mother, knowing she won’t receive it. Her fractured relationship with her mother is one more indication that the journey from girlhood to womanhood is dangerous, and most women navigate it alone. Maureen faced a similar dilemma with Gloria. Both Constance and Gloria are also alone in their pain and suffering because of Pantown’s silence and secrecy, something that also infects their relationships with their daughters.

“Beneath the terror in her stretched lips, I recognized the bones of the smile we’d been practicing all summer.”

Junie, trapped by her predators and fearing for her life, still smiles to appease or persuade them against hurting her. Smiles, which symbolize submission and sexist oppression throughout the narrative, are meant to keep unpredictable men happy, as every girl in Pantown learns. Heather witnesses this conditioned behavior from her sister at this moment and notes that she had been training Junie how to do it.