A Nearly Normal Family

The Sandell family’s journey illustrates the reevaluation of moral beliefs amid personal crisis. The novel suggests that in such circumstances, conventional ethical frameworks—e.g., religion or the law—often fail to deliver real justice. This in part reflects the systemic biases of such frameworks, such as the misogyny underpinning the legal system’s treatment of sexual assault survivors. However, it also stems from the fact that such frameworks are by definition rigid and universalizing, whereas the novel implies that circumstances like Stella’s require a more individual and nuanced approach. 

The narrative revolves in large part around Adam and Ulrika, a pastor and a lawyer, as they grapple with their ethics to protect their daughter Stella. Their moral convictions fluctuate under stress, suggesting that personal experiences and emotional challenges shape morality. Adam, initially a strict moralist, reinterprets his ethics for his family’s sake, rationalizing his actions with a biblical reference: “In his first letter to Timothy, Paul writes that someone who doesn’t take care of his own family has abandoned his faith in Jesus” (48). His willingness to set aside his belief in honesty to protect his family—and his use of the Bible, the wellspring of his moral system, in doing so—illustrates the theme of ethical fluidity.