Pieces of Her

Although Pieces of Her takes place in 2018 and 1986, the novel references many historical events and figures from the 1960s and 1970s. The Army of the Changing World, the group run by Nick Harp, identifies itself as an activist group, and sees their activities as efforts to force the United States to make changes to its systems. But their actions are those of a terrorist group, and their structure and operations parallel those of a cult. The novel references many organizations and leaders from the 1960s and 1970s to reinforce Karin Slaughter’s depiction of the Army of the Changing World.

One such organization is the Weather Underground, an infamous domestic terrorist group which operated in the United States during the 1970s. The group orchestrated several bombings in an effort to disrupt and dismantle the US government. The activities of the Army of the Changing World in Pieces of Her imitate the activities of the Weather Underground more so than any other group.

Slaughter also references historical examples of cults and cult leaders to deepen the reader’s understanding of the Army of the Changing World. These references build on one of the themes of the novel, which considers whether or not Nick’s group is, in fact, a cult. The text briefly mentions Jim Jones, the leader of People’s Temple, a cult that began in 1950s in Indianapolis and eventually established a large compound in Guyana. Over 900 of Jones’s followers died by mass suicide at his instruction by drinking cyanide-laced Flavor Aid, leading to the idiom “drinking the Kool Aid” in refence to joining a cult.

Another cult that is brought up is the Symbionese Liberation Army, led by Donald DeFreeze, which operated in California in the 1970s. Most famously, this group abducted Patty Hearst (granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst) for publicity and demanded a ransom. However, after being held by the group for some time, Hearst was captured on film robbing a bank with them and committed several crimes in their name, leading experts to believe that she had been brainwashed. This reference allows Slaughter to draw a comparison between Nick Harp and Donald DeFreeze, as well as show the similarities between Jane Queller (Laura Oliver) and Patty Hearst. Early in the novel, an FBI agent explicitly compares Jane to Patty Hearst—his implication being that Jane, like Patty, was first held unwillingly, and then brainwashed into participating in terrorism.

Slaughter also references perhaps the most famous modern American cult leader, Charles Manson, and draws parallels between him and Nick Harp. Manson is the infamous leader of the Manson family, a cult that operated in California during the 1960s and murdered several people at Manson’s direction.

In a different vein, Slaughter also references the counterculture hero of the 1970s, D.B. Cooper. Cooper was not in a terrorist organization or a cult—he was a legendary airplane hijacker who stole 200,000 dollars from a plane in mid-air, and then escaped by jumping out of the plane over a forest in Washington. No trace of the man or money was ever found in the area, and no one was ever able to discover who, in fact, D.B. Cooper even was. The mystery remains unsolved to this day. Slaughter uses this reference to deepen both Andy and the reader’s sense of Laura as some kind of counterculture criminal when she uses the name Daniela Barbara Cooper on her false identification.

Each of these references deepens Jane’s story in Pieces of Her, and leads to a more nuanced understanding of cults and the psychology of their leaders. The novel goes even further to explore the mindset of Nick’s group members, and the various ways in which they are drawn into the cult.