Millie

Millie is a wonderful, complex character that both symbolizes a kind of innocence that is lost when Grace marries Jack, and also is the best example of one of the author's main themes: that people often make assumptions about a person's value or goodness based on their outside appearance. Millie is a forgettable person, in Jack's opinion, because she has Down's Syndrome. However, Millie is really the impetus for Grace's opportunity to free them both from Jack. She not only has the wit to fake an illness so she can steal sleeping pills, she is strong enough to look her older sister in the eye and insist that they do not have to put with Jack's behavior. All of this strength is wrapped in a sweet young girl who claps her hands when she is happy and pouts when she is mad.

Sleeping pills

The sleeping...