Lake Carnegie in Society of Lies: Symbol Analysis

What Lake Carnegie Is in the Novel

Lake Carnegie is a body of water on the Princeton campus where several of the novel's most significant events unfold. It is the site where Naomi Mason's body is recovered after her drowning, the place where Maya and Nate go skinny-dipping during their college years, and the location Maya returns to in search of answers about her sister's death. The lake appears across both of the novel's timelines—Maya's 2011–2012 junior year and the 2023 investigation—making it a geographic link between the two sisters' stories and a recurring reminder that the past never stays submerged.

A Site of Death and Discovery

The novel introduces Lake Carnegie as a death site. In Chapter Two, Margaret tells Maya that Naomi drowned in the lake, and Detective Simmons confirms that a rowing team member called and Naomi's body was recovered from the water. The preliminary toxicology results show drugs and alcohol in her system along with evidence of drowning. The lake is immediately associated with concealment: the water hides what happened to Naomi, and the initial investigation treats the death as an accidental drowning.

The lake also connects Naomi's death to an earlier one. Maya dreams of Lila floating in the lake, her skin pale and bloated. Lila Jones, the Sterling Club member who warned Maya to be careful, died during Maya's junior year. The lake thus becomes a repository for the novel's dead women—Lila and Naomi—both of whose deaths are tied to the secret societies that surround the campus. The water holds their bodies and, for a time, their secrets.

A Site of Memory and Intimacy

In Chapter Fifteen, Maya returns to the lake and the sight of the stone bridge overwhelms her with memories: Cecily and Kai running across it after intramural volleyball, skinny-dipping with Nate, Lila at the stern of a crew boat in the early morning. The lake holds Maya's happiest college memories alongside its darker associations. The lush scenery—Japanese maples and purple nightshade—contrasts sharply with the knowledge that Naomi's body was found there.

The skinny-dipping scene in Chapter Thirty-Two is particularly significant. Maya and Nate go to the lake after the Winter Formal, where they argue about Maya's friends and her Greystone membership. Nate criticizes her choices, they reconcile, kiss, and jump into the cold water. The lake here is a place of vulnerability and intimacy—a private space away from the social hierarchies of the eating clubs. But the same water that holds this tender memory will later hold Naomi's body, retroactively darkening the scene.

A Site of Pursuit and Danger

For Naomi, the lake is a place of fear. In Chapter Twenty-Nine, she jogs along the towpath and feels someone following her. The footsteps stop when she stops. She turns and thinks she sees a figure in shadow before they slip off the trail. The lake's towpath—where Naomi liked to jog alone—becomes a site of surveillance and threat.

The lake is also where Naomi nearly dies before her actual death. In Chapter Sixteen, after discovering that Ben has a girlfriend, Naomi flees to her dorm, drinks tequila, and climbs onto a bridge ledge over Lake Carnegie. Liam finds her and brings her to his dorm. This earlier moment of despair foreshadows her eventual death in the same water, suggesting that the lake has been a site of danger for Naomi long before the night she died.

How the Lake's Meaning Shifts

The lake's meaning shifts across the novel's timelines:

The lake is also a place where Maya confronts her own relationship with water. In Chapter Thirty-Three, after the funeral, Maya sinks into a bath and holds her head underwater, counting, until her lungs burn. She thinks that if only the water could swallow her whole. This moment of self-submersion echoes Naomi's drowning and expresses Maya's guilt over failing to protect her sister.

Character and Theme Connections

The lake connects to several of the novel's central themes:

• The corrupting influence of elite secret societies: The lake hides the deaths connected to Greystone and Sterling. Naomi's body is found there, and Lila's death is connected to the same circles. The beautiful surface of the lake conceals the violence of the societies, just as the clubs' elegant facades conceal their corruption.

• The burden of guilt and silence: Maya's guilt is tied to the lake. She failed to warn Naomi about Sterling Club, and she returns to the lake to search for answers. Her dream of Lila floating in the water suggests the guilt she carries about Lila's death as well.

• The protective bond between sisters: The lake is where Maya's promise to protect Naomi fails. Maya remembers holding Naomi as a baby and promising to keep her safe; the lake is where that promise is broken.

• The pursuit of justice versus self-preservation: Maya's investigation leads her back to the lake, where she confronts Amy and searches for clues. The lake is where the truth about Naomi's death begins to surface.

Study Questions

1. How does the lake's meaning change between Maya's college years and the 2023 investigation?

In Maya's junior year, the lake is a site of intimacy and rebellion—she skinny-dips with Nate, and it holds memories of friendship and freedom. By 2023, the same water has become a death site where Naomi's body was recovered. The lake's dual nature—beautiful on the surface, concealing violence beneath—mirrors the novel's treatment of the elite institutions that surround it.

2. Why does the novel connect Naomi's death to Lila's through the lake?

Both women die in connection with the lake, and Maya dreams of Lila floating in the water after Naomi's death. The lake becomes a shared grave for the novel's victims of the secret societies. The connection suggests that the societies' violence is not new—Lila's death foreshadows Naomi's, and Maya's failure to act on Lila's warning haunts her when Naomi dies.

3. What does the skinny-dipping scene reveal about Maya and Nate's relationship?

The scene shows Maya and Nate at their most vulnerable—literally stripped bare and jumping into cold water. Their argument about Maya's friends and Greystone membership reveals the tension between Maya's desire to belong and Nate's skepticism of the societies. The reconciliation and jump into the water suggest a willingness to take risks together, but the lake's later association with death retroactively darkens this memory.

4. How does Maya's bath scene in Chapter Thirty-Three echo Naomi's drowning?

Maya submerges herself in the bath and holds her breath until her lungs burn, wishing the water could swallow her. This moment of self-submersion mirrors Naomi's death by drowning and expresses Maya's guilt and grief. The water becomes a medium of connection between the sisters—Maya briefly experiences what Naomi experienced, and the scene underscores the theme of guilt and the destructive power of silence.