Chapter Four: Daisy — Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Daisy returns to the basement apartment she shares with her mother in Leslieville, a cramped open-concept space with two twin beds, a tiny living area, and a kitchen and bathroom squeezed together. The apartment is a “strong bare minimum,” but it’s livable, and Daisy has made it her own with a collection of plants on a shelf by the biggest window. She sleeps with Kidz Bop playing in her earbuds to keep the dead away—the ghosts that haunt her are repelled by the innocent childhood glee of the music, and the unhappy marriage of the landlords upstairs attracts the more persistent spirits, leaving Daisy mostly ignored.
When she walks in, her mother is on the phone with Grandma, arguing about a house. Daisy freezes at the word “house.” This is the house her mother has always talked about—the beacon of hope that everything has been leading up to. But her mother waves her off with a nonverbal signal, telling Daisy to go do something else. Daisy reluctantly heads to the shower, her mind churning with thoughts of the house and of Noah, her recent ex-boyfriend.
In the shower, Daisy scrubs her scalp furiously, trying to wash away the residue of her old life. She notices her hair has grown out into curls at the roots while the ends are still straight from previous styling. This physical split mirrors her internal identity crisis. She reflects on the breakup: at Noah’s party, she got drunk on a blue raspberry cocktail Tara made for her, and in her haze she revealed her age. Tara, suspicious, looked Daisy up online and discovered she was underage, then DMed her to say she was “trying to help.” Noah never answered any of Daisy’s twenty-seven texts.
Overwhelmed by loss and a desperate need to change, Daisy takes her mother’s wig clippers and begins shearing off the straight ends of her hair, leaving only the grown-out curls. The act is both horrifying and liberating. The clipper slips and slices her eyebrow, drawing blood. Her mother rushes in, bandages the cut, and asks what she did to her hair. Daisy, now with only half an inch of puff around her head, asks if the phone call was about the house. Her mother’s lips twitch upward—she’s delighted—and she breathes out, “Yes.”
Key Events
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Daisy returns to the basement apartment and overhears her mother on the phone with Grandma about a house.
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Her mother waves her off, and Daisy goes to shower.
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In the shower, Daisy notices her grown-out curls and straight ends, prompting a reflection on her breakup with Noah.
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She recalls the party where she got drunk, revealed her age, and was exposed as underage by Tara.
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Daisy uses her mother’s wig clippers to cut off the straight ends of her hair, accidentally slicing her eyebrow.
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Her mother rushes in, bandages the wound, and confirms the phone call was about the house, looking pleased.
Character Development
Daisy is in the throes of an identity crisis. She has defined herself through her relationship with Noah—she loved being his girlfriend, loved the restaurants, galleries, and his university friends. Without him, she doesn’t recognize the girl in the mirror. Her impulsive decision to cut her hair is an attempt to reclaim control over her own image, to shed the part of her that was shaped by Noah’s preferences. The act is both destructive and transformative, and the injury to her eyebrow underscores the recklessness of her grief.
Mom is a complex figure. She is protective—she rushes to bandage Daisy’s wound—but also emotionally distant, waving Daisy away during the phone call. Her delight at the end of the chapter reveals how much the house means to her, and by extension, how much she expects Daisy to share that hope. The mother-daughter relationship is strained, with Daisy feeling like she has to perform a role to keep her mother happy.
Noah and Tara are absent but loom large. Noah’s silence after the breakup leaves Daisy adrift, while Tara’s self-righteous interference highlights the toxic dynamics of the relationship. Daisy’s memory of the party shows how easily she was manipulated and how her desire to fit in led to her downfall.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
The house as hope is the central symbol of this chapter. For Daisy, the house represents financial freedom and a future where she won’t have to struggle or be needed by her mother. It’s a promise of independence, but also a source of pressure—she must not “mess it up.”
Hair as identity is a powerful motif. Daisy’s hair is a physical marker of her past self—straightened to fit Noah’s aesthetic—and her natural curls represent her true self. Cutting off the straight ends is an attempt to reclaim her identity, but it’s also a violent act that leaves her wounded.
Financial insecurity underpins the family’s dynamics. The apartment is a “bare minimum,” and the house is the solution to all their problems. Daisy’s mother’s obsession with the house is a coping mechanism for their precarious situation.
Ghosts and the supernatural are woven into the everyday. Daisy’s use of Kidz Bop to repel spirits shows how she has adapted to a world where the dead are a constant presence. The ghosts are a metaphor for the past that haunts her—her breakup, her mistakes, her unresolved feelings.
Mother-daughter conflict is evident in the way Daisy and her mother communicate. Daisy feels she must perform to meet her mother’s expectations, while her mother’s delight at the house suggests she sees Daisy as a partner in achieving that dream, not as an individual with her own needs.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter establishes the central conflict of Daisy’s storyline: her desperate hope for the house and her struggle to define herself outside of relationships. It introduces the house as a symbol of salvation, but also as a source of anxiety. Daisy’s impulsive haircut is a turning point—it shows her willingness to change, but also her vulnerability. The chapter deepens our understanding of Daisy’s relationship with her mother, revealing the unspoken pressures and the fragile bond between them. It also sets up the supernatural elements that will likely play a larger role as the story progresses, as Daisy’s ability to see ghosts is hinted at but not fully explored.
Study Questions and Answers
- Why does Daisy cut her hair, and what does the act symbolize?
Daisy cuts her hair because she no longer recognizes herself after the breakup with Noah. The straight ends represent the person she was when she was with him—someone who tried to fit into his world. By shearing them off, she is trying to shed that identity and reclaim her natural self. The act is both liberating and destructive, symbolizing her desire for control and her grief over losing the life she thought she wanted.
- How does the house function as a symbol in this chapter?
The house represents financial freedom and a better future for Daisy and her mother. It is a promise that all their struggles will be worth it. For Daisy, it also represents independence—once they have the house, she will be free to do what she wants. However, the house also creates pressure, as Daisy feels she must not “mess it up.” The house is a double-edged sword: it offers hope but also demands conformity.
- What does the interaction between Daisy and her mother reveal about their relationship?
The interaction shows a relationship built on unspoken expectations and emotional distance. Daisy’s mother waves her away during the phone call, prioritizing the conversation over her daughter’s curiosity. Yet she rushes to bandage Daisy’s wound, showing she cares. The mother’s delight at the end suggests she sees Daisy as a partner in achieving the house dream, but Daisy feels she must perform to meet her mother’s expectations. Their relationship is strained, with Daisy feeling like she has to be a certain way to keep her mother happy.
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