Birthday Girl

“But the girl of my dreams is off-limits. She’s Cole’s and she’s nineteen.

There’s no way.”

Pike’s internal monologue often depicts his conflict between his desire for Jordan and social propriety. This establishes him as a sympathetic character since he fights against socially inappropriate feelings and doesn’t want to hurt his son. The above passage also sets up tension, underscoring the forbidden nature of Pike’s longing for Jordan.

“For some reason, the judgement I dealt Cam for her clothes doesn’t transfer to Jordan, even though she’s a few years younger.”

Pike’s ideas about young women and their sexuality can be outdated and problematic. He acknowledges that he judges Cam because she does not fit with his ideals of a good girl. However, he gives Jordan, who is dressed similarly, a pass because he likes her and thinks of her as serious minded and modest. Pike’s attitude reflects real-world, problematic notions about female sexuality.

“Neither my dad nor my stepmom is a bad person […] They struggled for anything good in life, so it was too much to ask them to let responsibility or concern for their children interfere with what tiny pleasures they managed to muster with their beer and Bingo nights.”

Jordan’s summation of her father and stepmother’s neglect is steeped in sadness and sarcasm. She notes with biting irony that Chip and Corinne neglected her and Cam because they were too busy combating stress through drinking beer and playing bingo. Jordan’s statement illustrates The Impact of Parental Neglect.

“‘I really don’t care about the wedding,’ she says […] ‘I just want the life.’”

The novel often stresses how Jordan is different from other, perhaps more frivolous, girls her age. While her peers build up the fantasy of a perfect wedding, Jordan tells Pike that she is more interested in the cozy, warm domesticity that follows the party. Jordan’s statement establishes her wisdom and pragmatism. At the same time, her desire to separate herself from other young women is an example of the problematic “not like the other girls” trope of popular culture, where a girl distinguishes herself by putting down others.

“‘The wives in this neighborhood don’t appreciate cock-teases strutting around and taunting their husbands, okay?’ I state in plain English, so she gets it through her head.”

As Pike addresses Jordan, he reveals his sexist and outdated attitudes about female sexuality. His use of misogynistic slurs like “cock-teases” is problematic, especially when one considers that the words are said to a 19-year-old girl sheltering in his house. In this way, the narrative shows how he is flawed.

“I roll my eyes. Suburban housewives, bored with their husbands, looking to stir up shit like Pike Lawson is a pit stop to be used to excite them.”

When Jordan spots women in Pike’s neighborhood jogging slowly past his house at night, she suspects that they are trying to attract the attention of the single, attractive Pike. In her jealousy, she classifies the women as bored housewives, revealing her own internalized misogyny. A weakness of Jordan’s character is that she tends to put down other women.

“Birthday wishes don’t often come true, so I don’t waste a chance when I blow out a candle.”

Douglas’s writing is marked by her use of dialogue and repartee. Here, Jordan’s answer to Pike on why she makes a wish every time she blows out a candle is loaded with subtext. Her answer shows that she is used to being disappointed, which is why she doubles down on hope.

“But Jordan’s not like that. She’s a good girl.”

The above quote is part of a sequence that reveals Pike’s attitude toward female sexuality, in which he sees women as part of a dichotomy—good and bad girls. Pike rushes to Grounders to assess if Jordan lied to him and was out with another man. He thinks that this is improbable because Jordan is a “good girl,” unlike, say, Cam or Lindsay. Pike still thinks in terms of outdated and troubling categories.

“I love the garden more than I admit to him. It’s like my own little space, and it will still be there after I leave.”

Douglas uses symbols and metaphors, such as the garden that Pike builds for Jordan. To Jordan, the garden symbolizes a sanctuary and the chance at a new life. It also represents the ideal of the Garden of Eden in the Bible before the fall of Adam and Eve, an idyll of beauty and wholesomeness.

“She looks beautiful today, and shit keeps happening to my body every time I look at her. […] [S]he’s no-frills, and it works. Farmer’s daughter and exactly my type once upon a time.”

The first-person narrations of Pike and Jordan allow the reader a glimpse into their innermost thoughts and desires, long before the protagonists can actually act on their feelings. This creates romantic and erotic tension. It also enables the reader to empathize with the characters, who, despite the potency of their desires, are trying to do the right thing.

“‘You look at each other like…’ ‘Like?’ He swallows, an unusually troubled pinch to his brow. ‘Like the two of you have your own language.’”

In Birthday Girl, minor characters often act as a chorus, drawing attention to the main characters’ foibles or reminding them of what is socially appropriate. Here, Dutch astutely sums up what Pike has not admitted to himself: that Pike and Jordan have developed an unusual intimacy.

“Meadow Lakes. I want to laugh. There’s no meadows or lakes, and there’s certainly no lake on a meadow. It’s a sixty-year-old trailer park full of dumps propped up on cinder blocks.”

Pike’s reflection on the trailer park in which Jordan grew up is tied with concerns about her safety and well-being, yet his words are also filled with snobbery and elitism. Bitingly sarcastic, Pike’s observation is steeped in contempt for the trailer-home lifestyle.

“The duality of her swimsuit has the coils in my brain twisting tighter and tighter, and I’m so confused. She wears black on the bottom. Adult, sexy, and beautiful against her tanned skin. And pink on the top. Innocent, sweet, and entirely Jordan, because she can be such a girly girl.”

Through Pike, Douglas examines desire in all its human complexity. Pike desires Jordan because of her youth, yet he knows that such desire is risky. The dichotomy that he sees in her clothes relates to his realization that, at 19, Jordan is at the cusp of adulthood.

“Everything about her is young.

Except her eyes.”

Right after Pike notes the duality in Jordan’s appearance, he fixates on the wisdom and pain in her eyes. Pike sees Jordan’s eyes as belonging to one who has had to grow up before her time. Pike’s summation of Jordan may help him feel more comfortable with his desire for her.

“Because even if she stayed and she rode you to kingdom come all night long […] you’ll still wake up thinking about me before you even remember she’s in bed next to you.”

The text often uses racy, provocative language to push boundaries. Here, Jordan confidently asserts that Pike will think of her even when he is with another woman, helping to establish her sexual autonomy. At the same time, the quote illustrates Jordan’s tendency to put down other women to establish her own distinctiveness.

“‘You’re right,’ she says, turning around and looking at me over her shoulder. ‘I can’t do it. I’m just a little girl, right? A silly, little girl.’”

As the plot unfolds, Jordan increasingly asserts her sexual agency. Here, she wants to challenge Pike’s outdated views about the sexual expression of so-called “good girls.” She strips off her clothes before him but ensures that he is unable to touch her. Thus, she sets the terms for their dynamic, ensuring that power between them is shared. Jordan’s vocabulary is boundary pushing, skimming close to age play, where she emphasizes her youth and, by inference, his seniority.

“Even if Pike is one of the good ones—and I’m pretty sure he is—I needed to prove to myself that I’m worth the work and the wait. It was necessary to raise the bar for myself and not give everyone what they want from me so easily.”

Jordan evolves and transforms over the course of the narrative. Through exploring a boundary-pushing relationship with Pike, she goes on a voyage of self-discovery and emerges stronger.

“A ship at harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are for.”

The novel implies that being happy and being safe are not always interchangeable. To be happy, one must sometimes take chances, embark on an adventure, and court danger. Jordan uses the metaphor of a ship, a metaphor being where something is compared to something else without using “like” or “as.” In this case, she compares a ship to how life is supposed to be led—like sailing on the open sea. The ship also symbolizes Jordan and Pike’s boundary-pushing love.

“I look at Lindsay, her thick red lipstick matching the red lace bra peeking out of her black silk top, and for about five minutes twenty years ago I thought she was hot and confident.”

While Jordan often wears muted colors like pale pink and tan, Lindsay is shown wearing red. Lindsay is also more made up compared with Jordan’s fresh, scrubbed-free look. The contrasting colors work as symbolism, setting up Lindsay as a foil to Jordan.

“Tell him with me now […] so I can go get in our bed, and we can go to sleep and tomorrow we can start to move forward, because it will all be done, and we won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Jordan exhorts Pike to tell Cole the truth. This establishes her as a strong, secure main character and shows how far she has come since the beginning of the novel. Initially, she was stuck in a stagnating relationship with Cole, hiding her true feelings. Now, she wants to move ahead and be transparent.

“‘But let me tell you something, girl,’ she goes on, speaking low and discreet for the few customers in the place. ‘What you feel for him or anyone else isn’t what you need. This—’ she taps my chest over my heart, ‘what you’re feeling right now—is the best thing that can happen to you. Because when all the pieces of your heart start to come back together, and they will, they’ll be stronger. And much tougher for someone to pierce.’”

Jordan’s boss, Shel, is a sympathetic character in the novel. She emphasizes the importance of adversity in building character. Heartbreak, such as Jordan is experiencing with Pike, only strengthens one’s heart, according to Shel.

“‘I love you,’ he tells me. ‘But no one is better off without you.’”

After Cole returns from bootcamp, he addresses Pike, marking a watershed moment in their relationship. Cole acknowledges Pike’s thoughtful, present parenting and tells Pike that his love is special and worth having. Pike may think that Jordan is better off without him, but Cole knows, through experience, that anyone is poorer for not having Pike in their life.

“‘Baby,’ he whispers, his hands shaking. ‘I hope you love me, because I love you like crazy, and I’m going to want you the rest of my life. I tried to stay away, because I thought it was the right thing, but I fucking can’t. I need you, and I love you. This doesn’t happen twice, and I’m not going to be stupid again. I promise.’”

In a romance, the hero, after messing up, must work hard to be worthy of the heroine. In keeping with this trope, Pike, after hurting Jordan, must journey to win her back, both with actions and with words. Pike visits several motels across Virginia before chancing on Jordan. When he meets her, he confesses his true feelings in a heartfelt manner. This marks a moment of catharsis or emotional release. Pike and Jordan’s love story can now move on to its happy resolution.