Letters to Scotty: Symbol Analysis in Reminders of Him

What Are the Letters to Scotty?

The letters Kenna Rowan writes to her deceased boyfriend, Scotty, form a recurring symbol throughout Reminders of Him. Kenna has written over three hundred letters by the time she reveals them to Ledger, and she continues writing them into the epilogue. The letters are not mailed or read by Scotty; instead, they function as a private confessional tool where Kenna processes her grief, guilt, and gradual healing. They appear as notebook entries in her apartment, printed documents at work, and even as a Word file opened during a boring orientation video. The symbol recurs in roughly a dozen chapters and spans the entire timeline of her incarceration and post-prison life.

Where the Letters Recur

Chapter Context	What Happens with the Letters
Prison library (retrospective)	Kenna begins writing letters to cope with loneliness and the trauma of losing Diem.
First night in Paradise Apartments	She immediately writes a letter to Scotty after her failed attempt to see Diem.
Bar kitchen orientation	She prints all her old Google Docs letters and hides them in her employee locker.
Drive home with Ledger	She confesses she writes letters to Scotty—over three hundred—but refuses to let Ledger read the one about Scotty’s death night.
Epilogue	Kenna writes a letter explaining she writes less because she is no longer lonely, updating Scotty on Diem and the new baby named after him.

How the Meaning Changes

1. From Grief to Guilt

Early letters are raw and confessional. In Chapter 13, Kenna writes that she just wanted to see her daughter and describes the agony of having Diem taken away. The letters become a space to admit how broken she feels. The guilt over Scotty’s death is so heavy that she can only face it on paper.

2. From Guilt to Memory Preservation

By Chapter 17, Kenna uses letters to capture specific memories she can later share with Diem. She writes about the first time she met Scotty at Dollar Days and the silly rubber-hand gifts he bought. The letters shift from being solely about her pain to being a repository of their love story.

3. From Memory Preservation to Connection with Ledger

When Ledger learns about the letters, he becomes curious. He asks if any letter describes the night Scotty died, and Kenna refuses to share that one. But later, at her apartment, she reads him a short letter about their intimate encounter. The symbolic value expands: the letters are no longer just words to a ghost; they become a bridge between Kenna and the living people who loved Scotty.

4. From Connection to Peace

In the epilogue, Kenna writes the shortest letter of all. She explains she writes less because she is no longer lonely. The holes Scotty left behind, she believes, are only holes felt by the living. The letters have done their work: they carried her through the darkness to a place where she can finally be present with her daughter, Ledger, and Scotty’s family.

Character Connections

Kenna Rowan: The writer and central figure. The letters are her primary outlet for processing incarceration, motherhood, and the loss of her partner.
Ledger Ward: He discovers the letters in her locker and later uses one to convince Patrick and Grace to give Kenna a chance. The letters become a tool of advocacy.
Grace and Patrick Landry: Grace admits she read one of Kenna’s letters, and that moment initiates forgiveness. The letter serves as proof of Kenna’s remorse and growth.
Diem Landry: Kenna writes with Diem in mind, hoping to share these memories when she is older.
Roman: Although not directly involved with the letters, Roman’s support of Kenna helps create the conditions where she can continue writing honestly.

Thematic Links

The letters tie directly to the novel’s central themes:

Grief and Guilt: The letters are born from guilt and become a space where Kenna confronts the accident that took Scotty’s life.
Forgiveness: Kenna must forgive herself, and the letters trace that journey. Grace’s forgiveness is triggered by reading one of them.
Redemption: By documenting her growth, the letters transform from a cry of pain to a chronicle of change.
Motherhood: Kenna writes partly to build a record for Diem. The letters represent her struggle to be a mother even when separated from her child.
Second Chances: The letters themselves are second chances: each one is a new attempt to understand the past and envision a future.

Four Study Questions with Answers

1. Why does Kenna tell Ledger she writes more than three hundred letters, and what does that number tell us about her emotional state?
The number signals that Kenna has been processing the trauma for years, not just days or weeks. Writing is the only consistent coping strategy she had in prison and after release.

2. How does a single letter change the relationship between Kenna and Scotty’s parents?
Grace reads one of Kenna’s letters and immediately forgives her. The letter proves Kenna’s honesty and depth of love for Scotty, breaking through years of anger.

3. What does the final letter in the epilogue reveal about Kenna’s healing?
She writes that the letters are now fewer because she is no longer lonely. She updates Scotty on Diem and announces the birth of their son, also named Scotty. The letter shows she has integrated loss into a new, full life.

4. Why does Kenna refuse to let Ledger read the letter about the night Scotty died?
She insists on keeping that specific memory private. It is the one piece of her story she is not ready to share, suggesting that full transparency has limits even in the healthiest relationships.