Dixie Dupree

Dixie is the main character as well as the narrator in the first person. The story spans from 1966 to 1969 when Dixie is 8 – 11 years old. While the first chapter hints at the foreboding pages that will unfold Dixie’s life, the story begins with Dixie at age 8. At this age Dixie is curious, impatient, straightforward, extraverted, immature, and provokes her mother constantly. She craves attention and affection from adults. She begins to lie to cover up truths about her family she does not understand, or to gain attention from adults she feels she is missing.

As the story progresses, her mother becomes increasingly abusive causing Dixie to become more reserved, withhold her trivial lies, and think twice before speaking. While she ends the trivial lying, she learns to lie about more significant events. She lies for her mother – originally at her mother’s request and successively to avoid...