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“I cannot eat pizza,” Pippa whined. “I’ve already eaten a muffin today and a sandwich. I refuse to gain the freshman fifteen.”
In Chapter 1, when Lucy meets Pippa, Bree, and Jackie at Baird, Pippa responds to Bree’s suggestion that they order pizza with this quote. Throughout the book, illusion of control is illustrated through examples of women excessively restricting their eating to control their weight and, by extension, their lives. Weight and body size are used to measure attractiveness and value in their social world, and controlling consumption is an ordinary part of life for many of the characters. In this example, Pippa is restricting to maintain her current trim size and related social status. Upon noticing her new friends’ bodies, Lucy grows increasingly obsessed about her weight and the weights of others. Throughout the novel, Lucy judges the women Stephen is involved with based on their weight. Additionally, when CJ expresses concern about Lucy’s obvious anorexia, Lucy uses her control of food to rebel against CJ.
When my college decision came down to Baird outside Los Angeles and Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire, CJ offered to buy me a Range Rover if I chose the latter. I knew it was just because she wanted to increase the chances that I’d stay with Parker.
In Chapter 5, Lucy recalls how much CJ liked that she was dating Parker in high school. CJ offers to buy Lucy a Range Rover if she chooses Dartmouth over Baird. Lucy believes this is CJ’s bid to keep her close to Parker because CJ loves the social connection with Parker’s family, including playing tennis with his mother. CJ’s self-serving attempt to control her daughter’s actions are in spite of the fact that Lucy is no longer romantically interested in Parker. CJ believes that she can protect her personal interests and social status by controlling her daughter’s academic and romantic life. However, the pressure from CJ leads Lucy to push even further from her mother and to pursue a college as far as possible from where CJ wanted her to be.
Manipulation is not a bad word. It’s not a cynical mind-set. It’s a proactive approach to exploiting opportunities.
In the opening to Chapter 14, Stephen makes this observation in reaction to Pippa confronting him about sleeping with Nicole and manipulating Lucy. This quotation illustrates Stephen’s desire to control the people around him and to dictate how others see him. While many would see Stephen’s treatment of women as cruel, Stephen sees using charm and flattery as a practical method to keep the women he sleeps with attached to him. Stephen believes their attachment is an addiction they develop to his flattery. In this case, Stephen’s decision to stop sleeping with Nicole isn’t moral; rather, it’s because it endangers his ability to control Lucy and her perception of him. Control of how others interpret the persona he projects is of tantamount importance to Stephen. In this case, Stephen uses control to maintain the illusion of his identity and to mask his artifice.
