In the book, Eli's love for Caitlyn Spies is representative of the end of his trauma filled childhood. Moreover, his love is foreshadowed from the beginning of the novel, with August spelling out her name, displaying their destined connection.

Quote: “Your end is a dead blue wren. Boy swallows universe. Caitlyn Spies. No doubt about it. These are the answers.” (p.16) shows how Eli and Caitlyn Spies’s relationship was seemingly determined from the beginning, which August somehow knows about.

Quote: ‘Maybe I am biased because she really looks like the girl of my dreams in a Clark Kent-stye thick rimmed specs disguise, but there's warth in everything she says’ - (p. 205) shows that Eli has fallen hard for Caitlyn despite only having read her work and just having met her.

Quote: “I want to dive into those green eyes and scream ‘Geronimo!’ and splash into the world of Caitlyn Spies and never come back up for air.” (p.206) shows just how much Eli has become obsessed with Caitlyn that he seems to be completely captivated and forgets his surroundings.

Quote - “Thinking of evil things and doing evil deeds are two very different things,” - Slim

Quote - “Mum’s love came hard. There was pain in it, there was blood and screams and fists against plasterboard walls, because the worst thing Lyle ever did was get my mum on drugs. I guess the best thing Lyle ever did was get her off drugs, but he knows I know that the latter could never make up for the former,” - Eli Bell

Eli’s Mother and Lyle’s criminal activities and related past, was the catalyst to some of the traumatic experiences Eli faces within the novel. Crime is also given a positive connotation in a sense within the novel, as drug dealing was a means to provide a better life for their family, and allowed for Lyle and Eli to bond (We do not promote crime for any reason). 

Quote: “the large window that Lyle throws his cigarette butts out of and I throw my apple cores out of, always following Lyle’s lead because, and maybe I’m too young to know better, Lyle’s always got a lead worth following.” (p.13) shows how Eli has been exposed to Lyle from such a young age that he treats him as a father figure, someone who he should follow. And as soon as the drugs enter the picture, Eli feels compelled that he should be a part of it as well because of Lyle, whether or not it is a good thing to do (as indicated by the fact that littering cigarette butts isn’t a good thing to do either, yet Eli imitates Lyle regardless).

Quote: ’That’s some prize parenting right there, my friend, bringing your kids to a drug deal’ (pg. 128), though Eli is the one that convinces Lyle to tag along for drug deals, it was irresponsible for Lyle to approve of this. Introducing Eli to criminal activities from a young age promotes unhealthy lifestyles, and allow him to view traumatic events that a child should not have to witness.

Quote: “the warped and macabre and plastinated severed head of

the first man I ever loved.” (p.480) shows just how brutal the world of crime that Eli has been in his whole childhood really is, now that he has grown up and is viewing it from an external perspective.

Eli  is introduced and sucked into a world of crime which ties in with his past and family background. It shows the impact of crime and how it changed the life of Eli and those around him. Elis life changes when he is sucked into this world and the novel displays the contrast in which crime related activities can do to someone. 

Quote: “Who are we kidding?” I shout. “Watch my language? Watch my language? We’re 🤬 drug dealers. Drug dealers 🤬 swear”  - Eli Bell

Quote:” The criminal world was a labyrinth and i was lost in it”

Quote: " In this world you either became a criminal or a victim"

Quote: " The line between good and evil was blurred in the criminal underworld"

Quote - “And the phone rings again as she moves into me and the phone rings again as she closes her eyes and presses her lips against mine and I will remember this moment through the stars I see on the ceiling of this secret room and the spinning planets those stars surround and the dust of a million galaxies scattered across her bottom lip.” - Eli Bell

Quote - “the first man I ever loved” in reference to eli talking about lyle being his father figure

Brotherhood is explored in the novel through eli and august. Despite their differences, there is a strong brotherly connection. For example, when august and elis dad crashed the car into a body of water, that was an experience they both shared. The flashbacks to that moment everytime eli encounters water may be shared with august, and this links to their brotherhood.

Quote : ‘i loved august like he was a part of me, because he was a part of me, and he always would be’

Quote: “I had my brother and that was all that mattered”