The Benefits of Being an Octopus

Zoey’s mother, Kara Albro, has children by three different men and lives with her current partner, her youngest son’s father. Kara is a character foil for Zoey, an example of the kind of life that awaits Zoey if she doesn’t make a change. The author doesn’t give physical details about Kara except that she wears a set of false teeth for which Lenny paid. While pregnant with Aurora, Kara sold her car to get five rotting teeth extracted. The narrative hints that more extractions followed, and Zoey notes that Lenny “saved the day” (20) by purchasing her mother’s false teeth so that she could work in a restaurant.

According to Zoey, Kara used to be much more confident but since moving in with Lenny has lost her self-esteem. Kara loves her children and believes that staying with Lenny is the best way to provide them with a stable environment despite his erratic moods. Kara works as a server at the Pizza Pit, and her job is a source of pride. When Lenny suggests that she quit her job to accommodate his new working hours, she becomes angry with him for the first time.

Shortly thereafter, she and Zoey plan their escape from Lenny. Connor is Kara’s only friend, and she borrows his car so that she and the children can leave while Lenny is out. Like Zoey, Kara shows courage, resilience, determination, and skillful problem solving. Though Kara seems powerless for most of the story, her strengths have affected Zoey, and in the end she regains her self-confidence.

The novel’s antagonist, Lenny, is Kara’s boyfriend. He provides the trailer where Zoey and her family live, along with his cranky father, Frank. Lenny keeps the trailer nicely furnished and impeccably organized. He owns the car and for most of the novel works as an orderly at a nursing home. After he loses that job because of a violent outburst, he finds a job as a maintenance worker at a hospital.

The author doesn’t give Lenny’s last name or age. Like Kara, he has one significant physical characteristic that gives insight into his character: his perfectly shaven face. Zoey notes that Lenny is the opposite of her mother’s other boyfriends, “with their varying degrees of scruffiness” (19). Lenny is punctual, organized, and detail oriented. At first, these seem like positive traits. To Kara especially, Lenny’s ability to work a steady job and provide reliable support places him far above her previous partners.

Living with Lenny comes at a price, however. Although Lenny never raises his voice, he keeps Kara in fear through emotional and psychological manipulation. Zoey realizes that everything Lenny does is a way to keep Kara under his control, such as checking the gas gauge and odometer every time Kara comes home to see where she has been.

The narrative doesn’t delve into Lenny’s backstory. Zoey’s camo coat was a gift from him, and she fondly remembers hunting and watching football games with him. These positive details, however, don’t excuse or mitigate his abusive behavior; rather, they highlight the complex nature of abuse and why recognizing an abuser can be difficult.

Fuchsia, whose real name is McKenna, is Zoey’s best friend. She grew up in foster care because her mother, Crystal, struggled with substance abuse. Fuchsia now lives with her mother, but their relationship is icy. Fuchsia calls Crystal by her first name. The author describes Fuchsia as wearing heavy eye makeup, “bright pink Sharpie-colored sneakers” (53), and “black-painted jeans and shirt with intentional holes” (56). The narrative implies that Fuchsia’s strong look is a front to hide her vulnerability. When Zoey finds her in the bathroom with her eyeliner wiped away after crying, Zoey thinks, “[S]uddenly I feel like I’m looking at her second grade self again” (124). Zoey and Fuchsia both have personas that they use as defense mechanisms: Zoey’s octopus is an interior identity, but Fuchsia wears her persona on the outside.

Fuchsia is another foil for Zoey. Their stories are parallel in that both their mothers are in abusive relationships with men on whom they rely. Fuchsia lives in fear of Michael and Crystal. She delays making the call to DCF because she suspects that Crystal would choose Michael over her and can’t bear the possibility of abandonment.

Fuchsia’s situation is the catalyst for Zoey to act. When Fuchsia tells Zoey that Michael was the shooter at school, Zoey almost loses hope because she feels like she has no way to help. Fuchsia proves to be just as strong and resourceful as Zoey when she agrees to use her neighbor’s phone to call DCF and confront her mother about Michael and the shooting.