Notes on an Execution

The trinkets are pieces of jewelry collected by Ansel from the scenes of his crimes. He collects one item from each girl—Izzy’s barrette, Angela’s bracelet, and Lila’s ring—in the hopes that they will protect him from his own darkness. These souvenirs represent the senselessness of his crimes.

It is common for serial killers to take mementos from their crimes. Criminal psychologists theorize that mementos provide a conduit for reliving violent fantasies and memories. As she investigates Ansel, Saffy obsesses over the psychological significance of the trinkets. Initially, she believes Ansel is a demented mastermind who must be keeping the trinkets for twisted reasons. The importance she ascribes to the trinkets mirrors the way she subconsciously pedestalizes Ansel, making him into a near-mythical figure as she centers her entire life around pursuing him.

Through Lavender’s chapters, Kukafka reveals the true significance of the trinkets. Before Lavender flees the farmhouse, she slips her mother’s locket around Ansel’s neck, promising that it will “always keep [him] safe” (3). Later, she realizes that she has accidentally taken the locket with her. Her unintentional revocation of this gift represents the betrayal Ansel feels at his abandonment. He never gets to feel the sense of love and safety afforded to luckier children, an absence that haunts him until his dying day.