The Deer and the Dragon

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child abuse and substance use.

Marlow suffered as a child and even into her adulthood due to her mother Lisbeth’s religious fervor, emotional abuse, and neglect. Raised in a strictly religious home, Marlow came to associate beliefs in the supernatural with oppression and believed that her mother must have a mental illness because she saw things that no one else could see. As Marlow wrestles with her new understanding of otherworldly realms in the novel, she must confront the impact of childhood and religious trauma.

As a child, Marlow often could not know whether her mother would treat her kindly or cruelly, and this uncertainty led her to become anxious and uncertain about herself. Marlow explains, “Everything I did was disappointing to [my mother]” (116). When Lisbeth overheard four-year-old Marlow talking to a so-called imaginary friend (Caliban), she immediately distrusted the entity, and she cautioned Marlow to stay away. By the time Marlow was 16, she felt that she could no longer tell Lisbeth the truth about her experiences because her mother would become so enraged when she did. However, at times, Lisbeth would show Marlow kindness and love, making the child constantly yearn for love and strive to understand how best to get it.