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 10, 2013. Rachel wakes early in the morning. She believes that she is in bed with Tom. She wriggles her hips against his—but when Scott speaks up and asks her to stop, Rachel is horrified. She apologizes hurriedly, and Scott rushes to the bathroom. Rachel tries to recall the previous night: the two of them got drunk on the patio and watched trains go by. She remembers Scott touching her hair and smiling—she realizes that last night, the two of them had sex.
Scott and Rachel have made a huge mistake in sleeping together, as this adds yet another layer of complication to the investigation of Megan’s disappearance. But Scott and Rachel’s shared desire for escape, symbolized by their drunken trainspotting, was strong enough to pull them together in spite of all the chaos happening in both their lives.
Themes
Later, Rachel heads downstairs. Scott has made coffee. As she walks through the house, she notices that all traces of Megan’s presence are gone. She wonders if Scott or Scott’s mother got rid of her things—or if Megan got rid of them herself. Repulsed by herself and Scott both, Rachel leaves hurriedly. Out on the street, Rachel sees Anna standing on the sidewalk, her hands on her hips. When Anna sees Rachel spot her, she turns and hurries back to number 15. Rachel senses fear in Anna’s gait.
Anna is highly suspicious of Rachel’s actions—and Rachel herself can no longer defend her frequent presence at the Hipwell house now that she and Scott have crossed a serious boundary.
Themes
