Amelia Wright: Character Analysis
Quick Facts: Amelia Wright is the second wife of Adam Wright and a primary narrator in Rock Paper Scissors. Initially appearing as a sympathetic wife trying to save her marriage, she is revealed to be a manipulative antagonist with a dark past. Her key relationships include her husband, Adam, her former friend Robin, and Adam's deceased mother.
Who Is Amelia?
Amelia is the deceptive heart of Rock Paper Scissors. She presents herself as a long-suffering wife, but beneath the surface lies a carefully constructed persona built on lies and manipulation. Her marriage to Adam is not a love story but a twisted act of atonement and control, driven by a past she desperately tries to bury. Amelia's character embodies the novel's themes of Secrets and Deception and Identity and Misperception, as she crafts a false narrative to conceal her true self and manipulate those around her.
Personality & Traits
Amelia's personality is a complex blend of insecurity and calculated deceit. She expertly plays the victim while orchestrating events to suit her desires, making her a compelling and chilling character.
- Manipulative and Cunning: Amelia orchestrates the trip to Scotland under false pretenses, claiming she won it in a raffle. She isolates Adam by hiding his phone, intending to "teach [him] an important lesson."
- Deeply Insecure: Fueled by a fear of abandonment and feeling overshadowed by Adam's first wife, Robin, Amelia craves control. She laments feeling "unlikable, and unloved, and invisible," highlighting her profound sense of inadequacy.
- Vengeful and Resentful: Amelia harbors deep resentment towards Adam for his emotional distance and towards Robin for her lingering presence. The trip to Scotland becomes a twisted act of revenge, designed to force a confrontation on her terms.
- Prone to Victimhood: Amelia consistently frames herself as the victim of a neglectful husband and a difficult past. This self-perception is a defense mechanism, allowing her to justify her deceitful actions and mask her role as the primary aggressor.
Character Journey
Amelia's character arc is a gradual unveiling of her true nature. Initially, she appears as a devoted wife desperate to save her marriage, eliciting sympathy from the reader. However, inconsistencies and lies begin to surface, revealing her controlling tendencies. The climax shatters any remaining sympathy when Robin's letter exposes Amelia's true identity: Amelia Jones, the teenage joyrider who killed Adam's mother. Her entire life with Adam is revealed as a monstrous lie, a twisted attempt to atone for her crime by inserting herself into the life of her victim's son. In the end, her violent attempt to silence Adam confirms her transformation from a seemingly wronged wife into a remorseless killer.
Key Relationships
Adam Wright: Amelia's relationship with Adam is the toxic core of the novel, built on her deception and his emotional unavailability. She craves the love and validation she feels he denies her, leading her to manipulate and control him. Their marriage is a prison of her own making, stemming from the guilt of killing his mother.
Robin: Adam's first wife and Amelia's former friend. Amelia betrayed Robin by having an affair with Adam, effectively stealing her life. This act of Marriage and Betrayal establishes Amelia as a usurper, and her inability to escape Robin's shadow fuels her insecurity and paranoia.
Adam's Mother: The woman Amelia killed as a teenager. Though they never met, this relationship is the defining event of Amelia's life. The Inescapable Past haunts her, and her marriage to Adam is a perverse attempt to manage the guilt of her crime.
Defining Moments
- The Opening Drive: Amelia hides Adam's phone, setting the stage for the psychological games and revealing her deceptive nature from the outset. This act establishes her as a manipulator and foreshadows the extent of her control.
- The Asthma Attack in the Crypt: After Adam traps her in the crypt, Amelia has a severe asthma attack. This moment highlights her vulnerability but also the extreme toxicity of her marriage, as it's later revealed Adam deliberately cut the power.
- The Confrontation: After Adam reads Robin's letter, he confronts Amelia with the truth about her past. Her facade crumbles, and her feigned victimhood gives way to violent desperation as she grabs a knife.
- Her Death: In the final struggle, Robin intervenes to save Adam, killing Amelia with a pair of stork-shaped scissors. Her death is a moment of violent, poetic justice, symbolizing the end of her deception and the consequences of her actions.
Essential Quotes
My husband doesn’t recognise my face.
This quote underscores Adam's prosopagnosia and Amelia's feeling of invisibility within the marriage. It highlights the theme of Identity and Misperception, as Adam's inability to recognize her face symbolizes his lack of understanding of her true self.
We still finish each other’s sentences but these days we get them wrong.
This quote encapsulates the breakdown of communication and intimacy in Amelia and Adam's marriage. It suggests a superficial connection that masks deeper issues of resentment and deception.
I plan to teach my husband an important lesson this weekend and he doesn’t need his phone for that.
This quote reveals Amelia's manipulative intentions and her desire to control Adam. It foreshadows the psychological games she intends to play and highlights her role as the antagonist.
What he doesn’t know is that if things don’t go according to plan, only one of us will be going home.
This chilling quote hints at Amelia's violent potential and her willingness to go to extreme lengths to achieve her goals. It creates suspense and foreshadows the deadly confrontation to come.
‘I’m… not the only one who… lied.’
This quote, uttered during the final confrontation, is a desperate attempt by Amelia to deflect blame and justify her actions. It reveals her unwillingness to take full responsibility for her lies and her continued manipulation even in the face of exposure.