Jenkins in Leave Me Behind: The Monster Who Shaped Nell

Overview

Sergeant Jenkins is both the catalyst for Nell’s transformation and the novel’s deepest antagonist. Introduced as Nell’s commanding officer in Riøt squad, he mentors her, becomes her lover, and is believed killed in the Patagonia ambush. Midway through the story, he reappears as the masked leader of the Ghosts—the very organization Malum Squad is hunting. Jenkins holds Nell captive for three years after she offers herself in exchange for Bradshaw and Eren’s freedom. His character embodies the novel’s central question: can a person be both monstrous and capable of love?

Plot Role

Jenkins drives two major plot arcs:

• Mentor and Lover (flashbacks): Five years before the main timeline, Jenkins discovers Nell killed a traitor without orders. Instead of reporting her, he takes her under his wing, calling her a monster like himself. Their relationship blurs training, intimacy, and violence. He teaches her to be a “reaper” and instills a code of trusting no one but him.

• Presumed Dead: During the Patagonia mission, Jenkins orders Nell to leave him behind as he bleeds out. She obeys, believing him dead. This moment haunts her and fuels her guilt.

• Ghosts’ Leader (twist): In Chapter 36, Jenkins walks into the war room where Nell and Bradshaw are held captive. He reveals he faked his death, killed his own squad, and spared Nell because he loved her. Every “traitor” she executed under his orders was innocent. He now leads the Ghosts.

• Captor and Final Sacrifice: After Nell trades herself for Bradshaw and Eren, Jenkins keeps her in Labrador for years. In the final confrontation, he is mortally wounded by Bradshaw. Nell grants his last request—humming “Davy Jones”—then shoots him. The music box he left her mourns him even as she finds peace.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Jenkins acts from a twisted blend of possessiveness, desire for companionship, and a genuine but destructive love for Nell.

• Manipulative: He orchestrates Nell’s survival and her assignment to Malum as “insurance,” knowing Eren will use her. He tells Nell he “got her out” of the dark forces but kept her prisoner.

• Possessive: In Chapter 36, he kills Greg for touching Nell without hesitation. Later, he forces Nell to perform a sexual act while Bradshaw watches, asserting dominance.

• Sentimental and Vulnerable: Despite his cruelty, he treasures Nell’s humming of “Davy Jones” and leaves her a music box carved with bunnies. Before dying, his eyes soften and he admits she showed him a “splinter of the light.”

• Fair in His Own Way: During the final battle, he brings an equal number of soldiers, as if wanting a fair fight. Bradshaw interprets this as Jenkins wanting Nell to escape him.

Interpretation note: Jenkins’s fairness is ambiguous; the text supports that he could have overwhelmed Nell but chose not to.

Chronological Arc

• Five years ago (Chapter 5): Hot spring scene. Jenkins offers to mentor Nell, tells her he knows she killed Barlet, kisses her. Their dark bond begins.

• Three years ago – Black Bay (Chapter 20): Nell’s distraction causes a branch to snap. Jenkins takes a bullet for her, then teaches her to dispose of bodies. She concludes they are “molded by darkness.”

• Patagonia ambush (Chapter 13 flashback): Jenkins orders Nell to leave him behind. She obeys, believing him dead.

• Two years ago (Chapter 3): Bones tends to Abrahm, the dying second‑in‑command. This is the same mission where Jenkins was “killed” – later revealed as staged.

• Present – captured in Labrador (Chapter 36): Jenkins reveals himself. He kills Greg, takes Nell away from Malum, and agrees to release Bradshaw and Eren if Nell stays.

• Three years of captivity (Chapters 37–40): Domestic life with Jenkins. He brings up Bradshaw, admitting he saw more in Bradshaw’s eyes than Nell ever had for him.

• Final battle (Chapters 41–42): Jenkins stabs Bradshaw, kills Pete, and is beaten by Bradshaw. Nell asks to finish him; she hums and shoots him.

• Epilogue (five years later): Nell keeps the music box; Bradshaw reflects that Jenkins’s photo still hangs on their cottage wall.

Relationships

Jenkins and Nell

The core relationship. Jenkins is mentor, lover, betrayer, and captive. Nell oscillates between love and hatred. In the final scene, she says “I love you” before pulling the trigger. He smiles. Her love is “old, harrowing and rotten to the core, but it is ours.”

Jenkins and Bradshaw

Rivals for Nell. Bradshaw calls Jenkins an “evil fucker.” Jenkins mocks Bradshaw, saying Nell loved him only in the past. In the end, Bradshaw beats Jenkins nearly to death but lets Nell deliver the killing shot.

Jenkins and Riøt

He killed his own squad to fake his death. He spared Nell because he liked her. The text explicitly states he “was already on the fence” because she was different.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Theme and Symbol Connections

Trust and Betrayal

Jenkins embodies the theme of betrayal. He tells Nell to trust no one but him, yet he betrayed her by faking his death and ordering her to kill innocents. The black bullet that killed Abrahm (fired by Nell on Jenkins’s orders) symbolizes how trust in a mentor can cause unintended harm. Read more on trust and betrayal

Guilt and Redemption

Nell carries guilt for leaving Jenkins behind and for killing Abrahm. Jenkins’s redemption remains ambiguous: he shows a splinter of light but never seeks forgiveness. His final request to hear “Davy Jones” suggests a desire for connection, not redemption. Explore guilt and redemption

Violence and Desire

Jenkins and Nell’s relationship fuses violence with sexual desire. He trains her by cutting off a face; she cuts a pattern into Bradshaw’s back. The hot spring kiss and later captive sex foreground desire inseparable from violence. Examine violence and desire

Survival and Sacrifice

Jenkins sacrifices his squad to survive (he staged the ambush). Nell sacrifices herself for Bradshaw and Eren. The novel asks whether survival is worth losing one’s soul. Learn about survival and sacrifice

Identity and Masks

Jenkins wears masks only briefly (the general’s mask in Chapter 36). More symbolically, he hides his true identity as the Ghosts’ leader while appearing as a dead hero. Nell’s multiple identities—Bunny, Gallows, the Monster—reflect Jenkins’s shaping of her. Dive into identity and masks

5 Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why did Jenkins fake his death and kill his own squad? The text reveals Jenkins intended to kill Nell along with the squad but hesitated because he liked her. He wanted to escape the dark forces and build his own organization. By staging the attack, he eliminated loose ends while sparing the one person he loved.

2. Does Jenkins truly love Nell, or is it just possessiveness? Both interpretations are supported. When Nell shoots him, Jenkins smiles at her admission of love. He says she showed him “a splinter of the light,” and he leaves her a music box as a keepsake. However, he also forces her to perform a degrading act and keeps her captive for years, which suggests possessive control.

3. What is the significance of the “Davy Jones” lullaby? The lullaby appears twice: once when Nell hums it for dying Jenkins, and later when he asks her to hum it again in his final moments. It symbolizes their shared sadness and longing. The music box he leaves her plays the same tune, a physical manifestation of their bond.

4. How does Jenkins’s mentorship shape Nell’s identity? Jenkins calls Nell a monster and teaches her to embrace that nature. He says he wants to help her “bloom into the monster you truly are.” His lessons—trust no one, kill without hesitation, use intimacy as a weapon—directly influence her actions throughout the novel, including her violent relationship with Bradshaw.

5. Why does Jenkins allow Bradshaw and Eren to leave after Nell offers herself? The text shows Jenkins agreeing because he wants Nell for himself. He releases the brothers to remove obstacles. Later, during the final battle, Bradshaw notes that Jenkins brought a fair number of soldiers, implying he wanted Nell to have a real chance at escape. Jenkins’s final nod toward fairness suggests a hidden desire for Nell’s freedom.

Further Reading

• Full book summary and analysis
• Ending explained: what happens to Nell and Bradshaw?
• Common questions about the novel