Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Girl on the Train, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Women and Society
Gaslighting, Memory, Repression, and the Self
Addiction, Dependency, and Abuse
Secrets and Lies
Motherhood, Duty, and Care
Summary
Analysis
Saturday, August 3, 2013. Anna sits alone in the kitchen. Tom is out with some old army buddies, and Evie is sleeping. Anna is bored, but she refuses to turn on the TV or go on the internet—she doesn’t want to see Megan’s face. Anna tries not to think of Rachel, either—though the authorities have confirmed that Rachel isn’t connected to Megan’s disappearance, Anna still fears Rachel coming around to take Evie. Anna feels that Rachel is much more dangerous than the authorities give her credit for.
Rachel’s bombshell memory of seeing Anna near the underpass is followed up by this a brief piece of narration from Anna in which Anna asserts that Rachel is the dangerous one. Hawkins thus keeps readers guessing as to which people—and what information—can be trusted. Meanwhile, Anna’s boredom subtly implies that she isn’t as happy in her role as a wife and mother as she lets on—she seems lonely and under-stimulated rather than happy.
Themes
