Power Dynamics in Verity: Who Really Holds the Control?

The Thematic Claim: Relationships Revolve Around Control

In Verity, Colleen Hoover constructs a world where every relationship is a battlefield for dominance. The central thematic claim is that love and intimacy are often indistinguishable from manipulation and coercion. Through the intertwined stories of Verity, Jeremy, and Lowen, the novel demonstrates how characters use secrets, sexuality, guilt, and even paralysis as tools to seize or maintain power over one another. No character is fully innocent; each wields control in ways that blur the line between protection and possession.

Tracing the Power Dynamics Across the Plot

1. Verity’s Manipulation of Jeremy: Sex as a Weapon

From the first pages of the autobiographical manuscript So Be It, Verity reveals a calculated approach to her marriage. She meets Jeremy at a charity event wearing a red dress “designed to be easily removed” and deliberately lies about her age (Evidence chapter-0005-chunk-0002). She describes becoming “obsessed with pleasing him,” but her narrative soon exposes a darker truth: Verity uses sex to secure Jeremy’s attention. After the birth of their twins, she fears their sex life is weakening the marriage, so she initiates a rough encounter at 2 AM, just four weeks post‑C‑section, against medical advice. She reflects that the experience “confirmed … Jeremy still desired her” but lacked emotional intimacy (Outline chapter 16). Here, Verity reduces intimacy to a performance—a way to maintain control over Jeremy’s gaze and loyalty. She also devises a routine of sleeping all day while the babies cry with monitors unplugged, then presenting a calm house when Jeremy returns. This deception allows her to appear competent while secretly neglecting her children, a manipulation that keeps Jeremy dependent on her curated image.

Later, Lowen reads the manuscript and discovers that even after the car accident left Verity incapacitated, Verity may have been feigning unresponsiveness. The sound of the hospital bed creaking (Outline chapter 5) and the TV mysteriously turning off (Evidence chapter-0008-chunk-0004) suggest Verity retains some agency. Her final letter—which Lowen destroys—claims Jeremy tried to kill her, a reversal of power that throws all earlier accounts into doubt. Verity’s manuscript is itself a tool of control, designed to manipulate the reader (and Lowen) into believing her version of events.

2. Lowen’s Guilt and the Manuscript: The Burden of Hidden Knowledge

Lowen enters the Crawford home as a financially desperate writer, but her position shifts dramatically when she discovers the manuscript. She knows Jeremy has not read Verity’s autobiography; he has told Lowen that he does not read Verity’s work because her books are from the villain’s point of view (Outline chapter 4). Lowen’s decision to keep reading—and later to hide the letter—grants her a dangerous form of power: secret knowledge.

Her guilt manifests as a physical and emotional burden. She begins having erotic fantasies about Jeremy (Outline chapter 12) and sleepwalks into Verity’s bed (Outline chapter 13), actions that intertwine her desire with the trauma of the story she is absorbing. Lowen even researches psychopathic traits and concludes Verity is a psychopath, yet she still chooses to protect Jeremy by destroying the letter (Outline chapter 25). This act of cover‑up makes Lowen complicit. She gains Jeremy’s trust and affection, but at the cost of her own integrity. By burying the truth, she ensures Jeremy will never have to confront what Verity might have been—or what he himself might have done.

Lowen’s power is fragile. She relies on Jeremy’s goodwill for housing, money, and emotional validation. The relationship is asymmetrical from the start: he offers her a half‑million‑dollar contract, drives her to Target, and buys her tampons (Evidence chapter-0011-chunk-0002), reinforcing a caretaker dynamic. Lowen’s guilt makes her unable to challenge Jeremy’s version of events, locking her into a passive role even as she holds the most damning evidence.

3. Jeremy’s Dominance in the Final Cover‑Up: The Strongest Hand

Jeremy appears initially as the grieving, devoted husband—a man who lost two daughters and then his wife to a car crash. He gives Lowen his shirt after the pedestrian accident (Outline chapter 1) and opens doors for her (Evidence chapter-0011-chunk-0002). These gestures might seem chivalrous, but they also establish a one‑sided dependency. He controls access to Verity’s office, the house, and the terms of the contract, including Lowen’s pen name “Laura Chase” (Outline chapter 4).

The most striking display of Jeremy’s power occurs after Lowen reads Verity’s confession letter. Instead of confronting Jeremy with it, Lowen destroys the letter and resolves “to keep the secret to protect Jeremy” (Outline chapter 25). Jeremy never learns what Verity wrote, and Lowen never learns what really happened. By the end, Jeremy owns not only the narrative of his family’s tragedy but also Lowen’s silence. He becomes the gatekeeper of truth. The cover‑up is not a joint decision; Lowen makes it alone, but Jeremy’s past actions have made that choice inevitable. His control is so complete that he never has to ask for it.

Even in moments of apparent vulnerability—such as when he breaks a window to escape the locked bedroom (Outline chapter 19)—Jeremy takes decisive action. He punches through glass without hesitation, demonstrating physical dominance. The locked‑door incident could have been an accident, but Lowen’s immediate fear that Verity might have taken Crew speaks to Jeremy’s underlying authority: everyone in the house defers to him.

Complexity and Contradiction in the Power Dynamics

The novel resists easy moral divisions. Verity is monstrous in her manuscript, yet her letter claims Jeremy tried to kill her. Which account is true? The evidence is ambiguous. The manuscript itself is titled So Be It, suggesting resignation, but Verity’s author’s note promises “ugly and honest” revelations (Outline chapter 5). Lowen’s research into psychopathy fits Verity’s behavior, but her obsession with Jeremy complicates the diagnosis—she loves him, and that love might be genuine (Outline chapter 12).

Jeremy, for all his paternal kindness, has secrets. He reveals that he gave up his realty firm when Verity’s career took off (Outline chapter 12), implying he sacrificed his own ambitions. He also jokes about Patricia’s affair, showing a sharp edge beneath the polite surface (Outline chapter 11). Could his resentment have driven him to harm Verity? The novel leaves the question open.

Lowen, despite her ethical qualms, ultimately chooses Jeremy over truth. Her power—the knowledge of the manuscript—becomes a burden she willingly bears. She is both victim and perpetrator, a reflection of the cycle of control that defines every relationship in the story. No one is entirely powerless, and no one is free.

Symbolic Connections to Power Dynamics

• The Autobiographical Manuscript (So Be It): This object is the ultimate symbol of narrative control. Whoever possesses it can shape how the family’s story is told. Lowen’s decision to read it and later keep it from Jeremy gives her a temporary upper hand, but the manuscript also imprisons her in doubt. The act of writing it was Verity’s way of controlling the story after her death.
• The Red Dress: Verity wears a stolen red dress when she meets Jeremy, designed for easy removal (Outline chapter 5). The dress symbolizes sexual power—a costume she uses to attract and manipulate. It also foreshadows the way she will later use her body (and its care) as leverage.
• Locked Doors: Lowen’s fear of unlocked bedroom doors (Outline chapter 4) and the locked door in Chapter 19 highlight the theme of confinement and vulnerability. The locks become sites of power: who locks, who unlocks, and who is trapped. The final cover‑up locks the truth away forever.
• The Canoe: Mentioned in the outline and internal links, the canoe may represent escape or isolation. Though not detailed in the evidence, it connects to the family’s tragedies and the characters’ attempts to flee their circumstances.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Verity use her manuscript to maintain control over her marriage even after she becomes incapacitated?
   The manuscript presents Verity’s version of events, casting Jeremy as both her obsession and her victim. By leaving it for Lowen to find, Verity ensures that her perspective will survive, manipulating anyone who reads it into seeing her as either a psychopath or a persecuted wife. The ambiguity of the final letter further sows doubt, preventing Lowen—and the reader—from ever reaching a stable interpretation.

2. In what ways does Lowen’s guilt over reading the manuscript give Jeremy power over her?
   Lowen cannot tell Jeremy what she knows without admitting she violated his privacy. This shame prevents her from questioning his motives or actions, allowing him to maintain control over both the narrative and their developing relationship. She becomes complicit in his cover‑up because the truth would implicate her own unethical behavior.

3. Analyze the scene where Jeremy buys Lowen tampons at Target. How does this seemingly ordinary act reinforce the power imbalance between them?
   Jeremy’s gesture is protective but also patronizing. He pays for her items without discussion, reinforcing his role as provider. Lowen feels embarrassed and notes that he “refuses to let me pay for it myself” (Evidence chapter-0011-chunk-0002). The financial control underscores that Lowen depends on Jeremy for money, shelter, and emotional validation, making it nearly impossible for her to challenge him.

4. Do any characters in Verity achieve genuine freedom from the cycle of control? Why or why not?
   No character escapes completely. Crew remains a child subject to Jeremy’s authority. Verity is physically trapped in her bed and her manuscript. Lowen is bound by guilt and love. Jeremy, despite appearing free, is trapped by his own cover‑up and the unresolved mystery of Verity’s intentions. The novel suggests that every relationship entails some surrender of autonomy.

5. How does the locked‑door episode (Chapter 19) encapsulate the novel’s power dynamics?
   When Lowen and Jeremy wake to find themselves locked in the bedroom, each character responds according to their role: Jeremy immediately breaks a window (physical dominance), Lowen fears Verity has taken Crew (paranoia and victimhood), and Verity is suspected of acting (hidden agency). The scene demonstrates how quickly control can shift and how each person’s instinct reveals their position in the family’s power structure.