Guilt and Blame Quotes in I Know This Much is True

Mrs. Fennick, librarian, doesn't actually feel guilty about Thomas at all. She just wants to be absolved of responsibility, in writing, to avoid any potential lawsuits. Classy.

Dominick grapples with his behavior as a teenager and young adult for the entire novel. He might criticize Leo for believing in "survival of the fittest," but Dominick definitely lives his life by that philosophy while growing up.

Dominick blames psychiatrists for overmedicating Thomas in the past, and he has a point, but this past experience makes him want to blame Dr. Patel for Thomas's current behavior, even though she's trying to help.

Dominick's response to this is "guilty." He experiences a kind of survivor's guilt because Ray abused Ma and Thomas but not really him. He also feels guilty because by merely avoiding Ray's abuse, and not stopping it, Dominick feels complicit in it.

By saying this, Dominick seems to be blaming Thomas for being abused by Ray—as though by not being quick-witted or savvy enough to avoid it, Thomas somehow deserved Ray's terrible treatment.

Here's what we mean by Leo's "survival of the fittest" attitude. Leo doesn't seem to feel guilty about it at all, though. But it's easy for Dominick to get mad when he's the one getting sold out.

Not only does Dominick have issues with guilt and shame, but he has issues with religion, too. He thinks God is out to get him, so his guilt must be the result of his sins, right? Actually, now that we think about it, sin is a concept that seems driven by guilt—you know, confess your sins to absolve yourself of guilt, that type of thing.

Dominick needs to realize that neither he nor Thomas deserved Ray's wrath. The only person who should feel guilty in this situation is Ray.

Dominick says this to comfort someone else, but we think that he needs to listen to his own advice. He's a master at playing out alternate scenarios in his head, driving himself into a guilty shame spiral.

Dominick seems surprised that other people are capable of guilt, too, as if he's the only one capable of shouldering all that guilt—a guilty Atlas, if you will.