Character Analysis
Acting Out 'R' Us
When Wren's mom, Laura, took off, she watched Cath (her twin sis) become more isolated and withdrawn, and also less trusting. For her part, however, Wren—at least on the outside—went the opposite direction, especially when it came to trust. By the time we meet her, when she gets to college, Wren's pretty much willing to trust anybody with a bottle of booze.
First there's her roommate, Courtney, and then there's her boyfriend, Jandro. Wren doesn't know these people well, but she trusts them enough to get drunk with them. The most startling example of Wren's trust in the undeserving, though, comes when she decides to trust her mom again, pretty much the second her mom says she feels like knowing her daughters again.
The Mom = Hen Paradox
Cath's having none of this relationship-with-Laura thing, and as she tells Wren, "You don't get to be the mother if you show up after the kids are already grown up. She's like all those animals at the end of the story who show up to eat the Little Red Hen's bread" (14.77). While we generally like to stay out of things, we've got to hand this one to Cath: It's a pretty fitting metaphor. Wren, however, does not agree, and she's determined to bring Cath along on the Laura journey. She tells her sis:
Oh, you hate everything. You hate change. If I didn't drag you along behind me, you'd never get anywhere. (20.61)
While there's some truth to these words—change is definitely not Cath's favorite—they're also pretty mean. Not sure if Wren's noticed, but while she's been drunk since the moment she got to campus, Cath has pushed herself out of her comfort zone socially and written Simon Snow fanfic without so much as a nudge from Wren. Plus, dragging someone into a relationship with someone who abandoned her is totally uncool. Wren can't see this, though, and at the moment, she's looking for easy street, whether it's a frat party or forgiving Laura, no questions asked.
Yeah, So, Drinking and Living for the Moment
When Cath first questions Wren about her drinking, "Wren smiled wistfully and smoothed her long bangs across her forehead. 'Drinking tequila is more about the journey than the destination…'" (3.95). Looks like someone's ready to let the good times roll.
The thing about the "journey" here, though, is that it's hard to see this as a live-in-the-moment-just-be-present mentality when Wren drinks herself into the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Given her interest in forgiving people, namely Laura—which you might say is really an avoidance of her own pain—it seems like perhaps Wren is willing to go along for any ride people invite her on, no matter the consequences. In Wren's world, that's the price you pay for having friends.
Wren sees the error in her ways, however, after she lands in the hospital with alcohol poisoning, and she slowly starts to reconnect with Cath and their dad, even joining her sister in a bit of Simon Snow fanfic-writing like she used to in the good old days. By letting down her guard and truly connecting with people (instead of just getting wasted with them), it seems like Wren begins to find her way again as the book ends.