Only It Wasn T Home Quotes

The theme of this book is that the right thing to do is not always rewarding for you, but the punishment is not always worse than the sheer guilt of doing something wrong. There are multiple characters in the book that can relate to this theme, “Only it wasn’t home. It was a building I didn’t recognize, with a family that was a group of strangers. My room wasn’t my room, and my bed wasn't my bed, because I wasn't me. I was someone else, a stranger who my parents didn’t know. A cheat. A liar. A killer. I lay under a duvet that smelled of the life I’d lost, and looked at my hands, blinking in shock” (Pitcher 241). This specific quote shows the main example of guilt displayed in this book, which is Zoe blaming herself for the death of Max. In fact, that is the

Even though Max’s death had been mostly accidental, she still blamed everything on herself. Guilt is seen in the lives of multiple other characters in the book. For example, Zoe’s mom has to live with guilt because her other daughter, Dot. She went deaf because one day as a baby her mom neglected to bring her to the doctor when Dot just seemed to be sick. Another major example is Mr. S. Harris, which is who Zoe is writing all the letters to in the book. He is her pen pan that is in prison and awaits the death penalty. He killed his wife, which is why Zoe thinks he will be able to relate to her. The major difference between the two is that he actually gets punishment for his action, and he is the one who turned himself in because the guilt became too much for him to handle. This really shows the theme stated in the beginning because Mr. Harris confessed his crime, which was the right thing to do in his situation even though it didn’t mean the best fate for him. He was actually going to face the consequences of his wrongdoing, which brought him a sense of serenity; even if it meant the end of his own