Bad Summer People

Whenever there is no overarching moral code or metanarrative, societies become regulated only by power. What is considered moral by the people of Salcombe is determined by whoever can impose their personal narrative most effectively on the group. Rachel represents the power of gossip and character assassination to regulate Salcombe society, using her power to either keep or reveal secrets as social weapons. In many cases, her secrets are kept, revealed, or falsified to present an appearance of power that does not really exist. For example, Rachel uses the secret about Jen and Jason to punish Lauren and Jen for beating her at tennis; then she uses outright lies about Susan to prevent people from looking more closely at the events of the night that Susan died. Rachel doesn’t judge Jen and Jason as immoral or disloyal. Instead, her motives are about ego, hurt feelings, and self-protection. In other words, her actions are dominated by the micronarratives that she tells herself.

While Rachel’s use of gossip is the most obvious application of social power, other characters apply different kinds of leverage to get their way. For example, Lauren uses her image to maintain her status as the queen bee of Salcombe society.