The Ex Hex

Vivi is the novel’s protagonist, and her central internal conflict focuses on her dual life in the witch and human worlds. As a child, Vivi’s mother instilled in her a deep sense of magic being inextricably linked with danger, and even as an adult Vivi has “never been fully able to detach” the two (81). She grew up keeping her witch side hidden, and she did not practice magic at home. After her parents are gone and she becomes closer with her cousin Gwyn and her aunt Elaine, Vivi slowly begins building an acceptance of her powers. She uses small spells to reheat tea, detect plagiarism in her students’ papers, and even close the heavy curtains in the family store. However, each time Vivi does a spell, she hesitates as if she is somehow doing something wrong. Her journey in the novel is one of self-actualization, since she already knows she is a gifted witch and a talented human. In this narrative arc, Vivi must shed her past inhibitions about magic and decide for herself who she will be: the secret witch her mother raised her to be, or the powerful sorceress she knows she can become.