40 pages • 1 hour read
Colleen HooverNovember 9
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Impact of Physical and Emotional Scars
November 9 begins with Fallon O’Neil fantasizing about using violence against her father Donovan O’Neil. This anger is fueled by the scars that mark the left side of her body from a house fire her father took responsibility for. These scars changed Fallon’s appearance and caused her to lose her coveted job as the lead actress on a television show—both impacting her ability to relate to others and find work as an actor. While Fallon’s scars are physical and tangible, they also enact emotional and intangible changes. Fallon is no longer as confident as she once was, no longer outgoing and able to pursue the life she once imagined for herself. The scars have changed the way she relates to others because of how she believes others perceive her.
When Fallon meets Ben Kessler, she is initially wary of his decision to defend her against her father. She does not believe Ben could possibly be attracted to her because of the way she perceives herself. However, Ben convinces her that he not only finds her attractive, but that her scars make her unique—telling her “I like the way your skin feels” (61) while caressing her scars. By accepting Fallon’s scars as a precious part of her, Ben inspires confidence in the young woman.
Ben himself carries emotional scars. He suffered a traumatic event (finding his mother after she died by suicide) which would later indirectly cause Fallon’s scars. He transformed from an obedient teenager to a young man who drinks and acts recklessly out of pain. However, when Ben meets Fallon, he stops drinking as much and begins to focus on the future. Fallon gives Ben a concrete goal—writing a romance novel about their relationship—and their annual meetings give him something to look forward to. Ben slowly overcomes his emotional scars as Fallon regains her confidence and stops focusing as much on her physical scars. However, the reveal of Ben’s greatest scar (his mother’s death) and his part in the fire that scarred Fallon make him believe Fallon will never forgive him. But by the end of the novel, both Ben and Fallon have grown as characters and wish to ease the pain of each other’s scars.
Knowledge Alters Perception
Fallon sees the events of November 9 through her own eyes and no one else’s. She experienced a house fire when she was 16 and believes her father Donovan started the fire, then forgot she was in the house. This led to a great deal of anger and grief in her life. Fallon then meets Ben on the second anniversary of the fire and begins to rebuild her self-confidence. She grows as a result of Ben’s affection and support.
Fallon originally sees her relationship with Ben as something of a social experiment that she hopes will result in a successful novel for the latter. However, as their relationship continues, she begins to see how Ben’s confidence in her has changed her life. When she learns that Ben has gotten a literary agent and is pursuing his writing career in earnest, she believes it is her responsibility to give him the same confidence he has given her. As a result, Fallon refuses to change the course of their relationship. While she believes her decision will ultimately help Ben, he sees it as rejection and lashes out. In this moment, Ben reveals his immaturity—albeit one partially born of trauma. Once Ben learns Fallon’s motive for making her decision, he recognizes his own behavior as self-destructive and works toward forgiveness. Not only does this revelation highlight how knowledge can alter perception, but it shows Ben’s tendency to respond to trauma with self-destruction that punishes both him and those around him. The same idea applies to Fallon forgiving Ben upon learning he started the fire out of anger and grief, not malice—hurting her was an accident.
While Fallon has grown with regard to her feelings on her scars, thanks in part to Ben, she still struggles to connect with her father seven years after the fire. However, when she reads Ben’s manuscript and learns that Donovan did not start the fire—and that he received traumatic news moments before it (that of Ben’s mother’s death)—she better understands his actions that night. Although Fallon still believes her father to be self-absorbed, knowledge has given her a new perspective that allows her to forgive him.
Trauma’s Influence on Characters
November 9th should be an ordinary day for Ben Kessler, but when he was 16, he woke up one November 9th to find his mother had taken her own life. The trauma of finding his mother and calling the police takes a toll on young Ben, as he was the only son living with her at the time. He struggles to understand his mother’s motive and like many struggling with grief, he needs something, someone, to blame.
Trauma is a deeply embedded, emotional reaction to an event. Ben reacts to his mother’s death by lashing out at the man whom he believes is responsible for it— Donovan O’Neil. An enraged Ben seeks out Donovan, believing the man broke his mother’s heart and drove her to despair (which he gleans via their text messages). To punish Donovan for his subdued reaction to his mother’s death, Ben lights his classic car on fire. However, this only leads to another emotional scar, as he takes his anger out on the wrong person—Fallon. Upon learning of Fallon’s suffering, Ben is left with overwhelming guilt.
Ben’s trauma leads him to drink, act out, and nearly fail out of school. Meanwhile, Fallon’s trauma causes her to lose confidence in herself and those around her, leading to her becoming something of a recluse. She also becomes consumed with anger at her father for allegedly starting the fire and forgetting she was in the house while it was burning down. Trauma nearly ruins both Ben and Fallon’s lives, but Ben’s eventual honesty and the pair’s affection for each other turn their lives around.
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By Colleen Hoover
