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Finch’s Dad
Kate is Finch and Decca’s older sister; she’s about 19 and has been out of school for almost a year when the novel begins. She didn’t go away to college because, since their parents divorced, Kate felt like she needed to stay home to take care of her and Finch’s mom. However, Kate isn’t around much to actually care for her mom. Though she makes a number of casseroles for her mom to heat up, Kate most often appears when she’s on her way out the door to do things on her own. Like Finch, she detests Finch’s dad and their obligatory weekly visits to his house. Kate and Finch are close in that Kate helps Finch hide his periods of being “Asleep” (depressed) from their parents—since Finch’s mom never checks the landline’s voicemail, Kate does in her stead and doesn’t pass on the concerned messages from Finch’s school counselor. During Finch’s last episode of being “Asleep,” she also told their dad that Finch was at a study-away program. But Kate is also notably absent from Finch’s life in other ways. Like most others, Kate isn’t concerned when Finch goes missing—his absences are normal to her.
Kate Finch Quotes in All the Bright Places
The All the Bright Places quotes below are all either spoken by Kate Finch or refer to Kate Finch. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
8. Finch: Day 8 of the Awake Quotes
Dad asks about the November/December study-away program, and it takes me a minute to realize he’s talking to me. “Uh, it was okay.” Good one, Kate. I make a note to thank her. He doesn’t know about the shutting down or the trouble at school beyond sophomore year because last year, after the guitar-smashing episode, I told Principal Wertz my dad was killed in a hunting accident. He never bothered to check up on it, and now he calls my mother whenever there’s a problem, which means he actually calls Kate because Mom never bothers to check voicemail.
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During the first Sunday night family dinner with Finch’s dad since Thanksgiving (Finch was “asleep,” or in the midst of a depressive episode, from before Thanksgiving to the first week of January), Finch learns that his sister Kate told their dad he was at a study-away program. More broadly, this passage shows how fractured Finch’s support network is. Finch doesn’t trust his dad or, for that matter, want anything to do with him. His dad, he implies, suffers from undiagnosed bipolar disorder, which causes him to have violent outbursts. He’s put both Finch and Finch’s mom in the hospital, so Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium
21. Finch: Day 22 and I’m still here Quotes
In 2013, a man in Pennsylvania committed suicide via carbon monoxide, but when his family tried to rescue him, they were overcome by the fumes and every single one of them died before rescue crews could save them.
I think of my mom and Decca and Kate, and then I hit the opener, and up goes the door, and out I go into the wild blue yonder. For the first mile or so, I feel high and excited, like I just ran into a burning building and saved lives, like I’m some sort of hero.
But then a voice in me says, You’re no hero. You’re a coward. You only saved them from yourself.
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Finch is sitting in the garage, getting ready to leave—but though he turns his mother’s car (nicknamed “Little Bastard”) on, he spends a few minutes sitting in the garage, seemingly experimenting with committing suicide via carbon monoxide poisoning. The fact that Finch is doing this in the first place makes it clear to readers how alone and at-risk Finch is. This isn’t the first time he’s considered killing himself and has even taken steps to do so—thus far in the novel, he’s contemplated hanging, drowning, and jumping from a building. Suicide is an ever-present thought in Finch’s head, suggesting that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem
“Why are we doing this, Dec?”
“Because they shouldn’t be in there mixed with the good. They like to trick you.”
And somehow I know what she means. I think of the Bartlett Dirt and all its mean words, not just about me but about every student who’s strange or different. Better to keep the unhappy, mad, bad, unpleasant words separate, where you can watch them and make sure they don’t surprise you when you’re not expecting them.
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Finch is sitting with his little sister, Decca, cutting “bad” words out of books at her request. Decca is currently under a lot of stress because, according to Kate, she’s uncomfortable with how close and age she and Josh Raymond are and the possibility that Finch’s dad is Josh Raymond’s biological father. Decca’s exercise of cutting the mean words out of books shows that, like Finch and Violet, she’s trying to use language and literature to make sense of the world around her. When it seems like she can’t control anything in her life—such as whether her dad prefers Josh Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui.
48. Violet: March 21 and beyond Quotes
“He’ll be back. He always comes back.” That’s just his thing. It’s what he does.
I want to say to her and Charlie and Brenda, to Kate, to his mom: Doesn’t anyone care why he comes and goes? Have you ever stopped to think that something might be wrong with this?
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Violet has just searched Finch’s room one more time after he disappears. As she leaves, Decca tells her that Finch always comes back when he does this. The fact that Decca can say this with such certainty makes it clear that Finch has done this before—she knows what to expect, and from past experiences, she doesn’t think Finch is in any real danger of not coming back. As Violet suggests, this begs the question of why Finch disappears regularly, and what might be wrong to cause him to do this. But as Violet attempts to figure out what’s wrong with Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam
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Kate Finch Character Timeline in All the Bright Places
The timeline below shows where the character Kate Finch appears in All the Bright Places. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
3. Finch: Day 6 (still) of being awake
...Finch’s mom is defrosting a casserole while she talks on the phone. Finch’s older sister, Kate, grabs keys and heads out the door. Finch has an eight-year-old sister too, Decca—they all...
(full context)
8. Finch: Day 8 of the Awake
On Sunday evening, Kate, Decca, and Finch drive to Finch’s dad’s house for their weekly dinner. They’re silent on...
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Finch’s dad greets Kate and Decca and asks Finch how the study-away program was. Finch says it was great...
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...potato salad sandwich and Finch lets her, even though it has bacon in it. When Kate points out the bacon issue, Dad says Finch can pick it out, and his Canadian...
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...looks relieved as she pours a glass of wine and goes after Decca. Finch and Kate pass a bag of chips back and forth and talk about how “stupid” it is...
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...he walks to the bathroom and digs through the medicine cabinet. He finds some of Kate’s old sleeping pills and takes them back to his room.
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18. Finch: Day 15 (still)
...too fast, and he can see, hear, and feel everything. When he tried to tell Kate about it once, she suggested it was Finch’s dad’s fault for hitting him. Finch knows...
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...to cut his room in half and make it smaller. Though Finch’s mom, Decca, and Kate are all home, nobody asks what he’s doing. The last time any of them were...
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21. Finch: Day 22 and I’m still here
...house on Sunday. Rosemarie explains that Finch’s dad is in the basement, and Finch tells Kate that he’ll talk to their dad. They all know their dad must be in one...
(full context)
When Finch, Kate, and Decca get back home, Finch kisses Finch’s mom and says he’s going out. He...
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When Finch gets home, Kate is on her way out. She asks Finch if he’s been with Violet and then...
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23. Finch: Days 23, 24, 25…
...bleeding.” Finch sleeps in the middle of his room with an old blue comforter of Kate’s. After two days, the walls are blue like a swimming pool. Finch can catch his...
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24. Violet: 135, 134, 133 days to go
Figuring she’s already in trouble for skipping class, Violet heads across town to Finch’s house. Kate answers the door and says she’s sure Finch is around somewhere. She lets Violet go...
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26. Violet: 133 days to go
...herself, so she writes a list of people she thinks might want to contribute, like Kate, Brenda, and Jordan Gripenwaldt. She discovers that germmagazine.com is available and registers the site. Then...
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41. Finch: Day 64 of the Awake
...this once; he’s not sure he believes it, but Decca might. Later, Finch, Decca, and Kate head for their dad’s house. Bored of sitting around in the living room, Finch goes...
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46. Violet: March 18
...from school by now, and Violet realizes that she has no idea Finch was expelled. Kate comes into the kitchen to chat with her mom and Violet and then sends Violet...
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52. Violet: April 26
Mid-morning on Sunday, Kate shows up at Violet’s house and asks if she’s heard from Finch. She explains that...
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...she sees Violet and wraps her in a tight hug. Violet asks to speak to Kate alone. On the patio, Violet tells Kate about the emails to her, Brenda, and Charlie....
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...like Finch did with his sticky notes. Violet asks to look at Finch’s room, and Kate tells her to go ahead. It still smells like Finch, and it looks untouched. Violet...
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Violet goes back downstairs to find that Kate has left to look for Finch. Violet asks Finch’s mom to follow her back upstairs....
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