Crimes of the Heart

“That’s what I like about it, Chick—taking a drag off of death. Mmm! Gives me a sense of controlling my own destiny. What power! What exhilaration!”

Meg flippantly smokes a cigarette, but there is much truth in what she says. A lack of control has been built into the lives of the Magrath women. It is important to them to control what they can, even in negative ways.  

“I bet if Daddy hadn’t of left us, they’d still be alive”

Babe blames their father for their mother’s death. This is one more possible answer to the question of why she shot Zackery instead of herself.  

“She had a bad day. A real bad day. You know how it feels on a real bad day” 

This line acts as a reminder of how tenuous life is in the Magrath household, where having a bad enough day can end a life. Meg’s reminder to Babe that she knows how it feels to have “a real bad day” is another signal that they all share a similar mental malaise.