Phillips employs the Faulknerian technique of multiple narrative perspectives, allowing four different characters to convey their individual thoughts and actions in forty-three separate sections. By providing the reader with diverse interpretations, Phillips presents the most comprehensive and accurate account of the various incidents leading up to the climactic conclusion when all the characters converge at Turtle Hole, the swimming area off-limits to the campers. Since the horror of that experience is shared by characters of divergent personalities and backgrounds, the reader accepts their action as a valid response.

Perhaps even more than Phillips's earlier fiction, Shelter is a highly symbolic novel. For example, the snake captured by Parson serves as a multidimensional symbol associated with nature, atonement, and sexuality in addition to the traditional link with evil. Similar connections exist between Turtle Hole and the dangers of the adult world, and the various earlier secrets foreshadow the ultimate...