The Harte family struggles with immense feelings of grief and loss after Mick’s death. Phoebe describes her shock as “this total feeling of emptiness in my gut. Like a cannonball had been shot cleanly through my middle” (26). This is a simile, where something is compared to something else using “like” or “as”—in this case, Phoebe’s grief being “like a cannonball.” The image speaks to Phoebe’s distress; it denotes both a pain which is violent and physical in magnitude, and an unimaginable absence. Phoebe cries inconsolably in the days following the accident: “I cried so hard my stomach muscles hurt when I touched them, and my sheets and pillowcase got so soggy with tears and sweat” (35). The intensity of her tears illustrates how much she loved Mick, and the extent of her suffering after his death.

Phoebe’s parents also weep inconsolably; this is shocking for Phoebe and adds to her distress: “My father broke down then. Heaving these terrible sobs into his hands. I went numb when I heard that” (28). Phoebe’s reaction denotes shock at her father’s devastation. She explains: “It’s just so scary, you know? Hearing your pop cry like that” (28).