56 pages • 1 hour read
The Family Game
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Themes
The Psychology of Control
An important element of The Family Game is the element of psychological control and thrill. Psychological control helps enhance the mystery and tension in this novel. Importantly, the psychology of control also makes Harriet question her own instincts and sense of self as she seeks to unravel the mystery of the Holbeck family.
Robert Holbeck uses the psychology of control through disturbing and distressing games that force his family into precarious situations. The Krampusnacht game is terrifying even though it is certain that the Holbecks wouldn’t let anything bad happen to their children. Still, instilling fear into their family members is, to Robert, an important part of building character. This is because forcing people through tortuous fear forces them to develop grit and resilience. The psychological control comes into play because players of the game are meant to feel grateful for being a part of this exclusive family, as well as being given the opportunity to work together and prove themselves. The Christmas Eve game is another test of psychological control because it pits family member against family member. The point of the game is to win, which is valued in the Holbeck family. But the secondary point of the game is for the winner to prove that they care about their family by using their victory to give grace to the others. The psychological control inherent in these games is the feeling the players have that they can’t opt out. Opting out would mean disappointing Robert, proving oneself unworthy of the Holbeck name, and/or showing a vulnerability that is too easy for the power-hungry to take advantage of. Another game that Robert plays is the spinning of himself as a murderer for Harriet. The tape-recording is another form of psychological control because Robert is playing with Harriet’s trust and understanding. He holds her childhood crime against her, making her unsure if he will reveal her secret or not. This is how Robert wields control and influence in his family.
Edward’s psychological control is ultimately the most shocking. Edward successfully convinced Harriet that he is a good, moral person who is estranged from his family because of his strict code of ethics. Edward has created a persona, a mask that he bases on the memory of his late-brother Bobby. In adopting Bobby’s interests and attitudes, Edward tries to replace the young man he helped to get rid of. Edward’s desire to be Bobby and prove himself worthy of filling Bobby’s shoes as the eldest son is indicative of Edward’s lack of identity. He exerts psychological control over himself by convincing himself that his murders, including aiding in Bobby’s death, are justified. He also exerts psychological control over Harriet by keeping his true self secret, and by hiding the fact that he knows the truth about her past. He cons Harriet into seeing him a certain way, only to reveal that his love for Harriet has been nothing more than a coercive narrative.
The Problem With Keeping Secrets
In The Family Game, Steadman explores the toxic nature of keeping secrets. Keeping secrets makes life more complicated and makes people doubt themselves.
The most closely guarded secret in this novel is Harriet’s. Her secret, that she murdered Laurence Fletcher, is deeply ingrained in her psyche and sense of self. Because Harriet committed this murder when she was 11 years old, she has little control as an adult in atoning for her crime. Though Harriet is a rational, composed, and compassionate adult, she is afraid to know that she is capable of killing for her family. Harriet’s secret is toxic because it makes her vulnerable to herself and to others. She can’t see herself as the good person that others see her as because she knows what she is capable of. The guilt of the murder and the way she watched callously as Laurence died highlights that there is a part to Harriet that is alien even to herself. Steadman therefore uses Harriet’s deep, dark secret to reveal a universal truth about human beings: We are all capable of doing worse than we can imagine.
Harriet’s secret also makes her vulnerable to being taken advantage of by others. She becomes coerced by Robert into knowing a story about the Holbecks and getting involved in the ultimate drama of the family because he knows her secret. This develops a toxic dynamic between Robert and Harriet because Harriet finds herself indebted to Robert in ways that are out of her control. The other layer to this toxicity is Harriet’s relief that her secret is safe with someone else. To be seen, known, and recognized for the darker parts of herself confirms what Harriet feels about herself. Thus, she is attracted to Robert’s appreciation and knowledge of her secret simply because she is no longer alone in knowing this about herself. Harriet is sucked into the Holbeck family turbulence because knowing her secret gives Robert power over her. Ultimately, Harriet also learns how to come to terms with the secret she’s kept for so long, so she avoids allowing Robert, or Edward, to make her feel too evil for what she’s done.
Robert and Edward also keep secrets. They both know the truth about the multiple murders Edward has committed, but they keep it a secret to protect their family legacy. This toxic attitude to their reputation puts women in danger. Edward spends years murdering with impunity because Robert and Edward both use their influence to keep the murders a secret. This means that the murdered women’s families never get closure, and it also means that Robert and Edward develop a toxic cycle of holding secrets against one another. In this novel, keeping secrets is a detriment to oneself and to others. It can even be dangerously toxic and life-threatening.
Socioeconomic and Class Differences
A major conflict in The Family Game is the socioeconomic and class difference that gives the Holbeck family free reign in the world while simultaneously threatening Harriet Reed.
The Holbeck family is of a level of wealth that is difficult to conceptualize because their wealth is based in legacy. The Holbeck family wealth is built up in a time when few legal protections existed for workers. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Industrial Revolution brought new technologies and new jobs, but also brought new ways of abusing people for personal gain. The original Holbeck built his wealth by taking advantage of the laws at the time and ruthlessly monopolizing his business. Thus, the wealth of the current iteration of the Holbeck family is not just old money because their name outpaces their wealth—it’s the prestige of being a Holbeck that makes them seem even wealthier than they are. However, the current Holbecks tend to abuse their privilege. For example, Matilda uses the influence of her family name to change Harriet’s work schedule just so they can have tea together. Matilda’s overreach signifies that the Holbecks are influential and often in control. This also reveals how distanced they are from reality. Although wealth has given them comfortable lives, it has also presented certain problems. The Hydes is a symbolic setting of this conflict because it is both a physical manifestation of wealth and protection and a way of hiding the Holbeck family secrets. Edward is a serial killer, but wealth and family connections have kept his crimes away from legal attention, thus allowing him to commit more murders. Additionally, wealth makes people competitive and greedy. Although she has immense wealth, Fiona wants to coerce Harriet into getting an abortion so that Fiona and her children can inherit more money. Throughout the novel, Steadman highlights the Holbeck’s wealth as a problem, not as something to admire and desire. Their wealth allows them to be immoral with impunity, and it makes them competitive, greedy, and dangerous.
The antithesis to this wealth is Harriet Reed. Harriet is a successful novelist, so she is stable. But she is not wealthy, nor does she come from wealth. This positions Harriet in the real world while the Holbeck’s live in a fantasy world of parties, games, and money. While every whim of the Holbeck’s can be granted, and every problem solved, Harriet has to deal with her goals and conflicts more realistically. For example, she doesn’t have a housekeeper, which shocks Eleanor. But Harriet knows how to take care of herself, unlike the other Holbecks. Therefore, Harriet is better prepared to manage the real world, and she understands the value of hard work and sacrifice. Because Harriet is an outsider to the wealth and opulence of the Holbeck family, she is an ideal character to observe, analyze, and expose their more toxic dynamics. Harriet also has a different relationship with herself because of her lack of inherited wealth: Harriet’s secret is detrimental to her life if it is exposed in part because she doesn’t have the money, influence, and power to protect herself against accountability. If people find out about the murder Harriet committed as a child, she would be held responsible. This is a juxtaposition to Edward, whose many murders are kept quiet because of his wealth and connections. Thus, Harriet has more to lose because she is not rich, even though wealthy families like the Holbecks believe it is they that have money to lose on outsiders like Harriet who may want to ingratiate themselves into their exclusive family for money.
Because Harriet cares more about truth, morality, and her daughter than money, Harriet proves herself to be the heroine of the novel. Edward gives her the option to be wealthy beyond her wildest dreams, which also provides financial wealth for her daughter and future grandchildren, but at the cost of watching Edward kill his entire family. Harriet chooses people who are essentially strangers to her over a wealthy life because she knows it is better to be poor and alone than with Edward. This also leads to Harriet’s ultimate reward. Because she is a genuinely good and morally upstanding person, she does end up wealthy because she proves herself worthy of being a part of the Holbeck family.
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