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The most important element in the book is the effect that Natalie's friendship with Tony has on her. She follows Tony's lead through very dangerous paths, seeing them as thrillingly unconventional. However, the summary doesn't mention the essential interaction between them at the end of the book. In the forest, Tony makes lesbian overtures to Natalie, which she rejects. Tony then abandons Natalie in the woods and disappears, but terrifies her with menacing calls and noises. Natalie escapes this threatening situation, with a new understanding: the friendship which she'd seen as freeing was the opposite. Her "friend" Tony was herding her, without concern for her own wishes, to exploit her. Tony's sadistic nature is parallel to that of the older man in the beginning of the book, who leads Natalie into the woods and rapes her. The difference is that Tony is not successful. Natalie heads back to college to live, on her own terms, strong and unafraid.
Younggoldchip (talk) 15:36, 10 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]
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