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Book 1, Chapter 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Tell Me Everything, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Storytelling, Empathy, and Meaning
Marriage and Betrayal
Understanding vs. Division
Family, Inheritance, and Cyclical Abuse
Growth and Tenacity
Summary
Analysis
It is now winter, and Bob Burgess feels anxious. As a criminal defense lawyer, Bob sees firsthand just how much injustice there is in America; sometimes, he pictures the country as a tractor about to fall off of its wheels. Everyone in Crosby assumes Bob will take Matthew Beach’s case, though Bob claims he is staying out of it. To help make up his mind, Bob calls his older brother Jim, who lives in New York City. Jim is also a criminal defense lawyer.
Though the novel never explicitly names presidents Donald Trump or Joseph Biden, Bob’s anxiety here is clearly linked to the increased political polarization that resulted from those two presidential terms. The fact that brothers Bob and Jim are both defense lawyers signals how determinative family histories and experiences can be, even on something as seemingly individualized as career choice.
Themes
Jim is certain that Bob will take the case; he is always patronizing his brother (whom he calls “little Bobby Burgess”) for being too soft and generous. Years ago, Jim had confessed to Bob that he—and not Bob—was actually responsible for playing with the car gears and killing their father. Though Bob and Jim never talked of it again, Bob thinks of this confession when Jim, recounting all of the “Bitch Ball” horror stories from his youth, opines that Matthew Beach definitely murdered his mother. Jim also remembers Diana, who always seemed “sweetly sad.”
The question of who really killed Jim and Bob’s father will become a central source of conflict in the novel, even though neither brother seems to feel any animosity towards the other over the accidental death. It is also essential to note the parallels between Bob and Matt as they begin to emerge—both are younger siblings, and both have been (at least by some people) blamed for a parent’s death.
Themes
Jim invites Bob to come stay with him and his wife Helen in New York. Bob loves Helen, and he misses Jim, and Lucy Barton is going to New York soon, so Bob thinks he will travel with her. As he waits for the trip to arrive, Bob finds himself “struggling” to pass the time, his thoughts often clouded by anxiety. A week later, Jim calls to tell Bob that he and Helen are going on a trip and Bob can’t come visit anymore. When Bob asks why they are traveling so suddenly, Jim will only say, “because we are. That’s why.”
Themes
