Please Ignore Vera Dietz Duty Quotes

The dead Charlies sure are insistent when it comes to following Vera around. They want her to take on the great task of clearing Vera's name, but she doesn't want to do that quite yet. After all, it's not like Charlie was doing her any huge favors before he died.

All her life, Vera's dad has told her that what goes on at the Kahn household isn't any of their business. But even if her dad doesn't think that it's their job to call the police on the Kahns, Vera can't help but wonder if she should have reported the abuse.

Vera suspects that it might not be right for them to just ignore the suffering and abuse going on around them. How are things ever supposed to get better for the world if everyone walks around with blinders on, convinced that it's not their responsibility to acknowledge someone else's pain?

Ken Dietz has always been utterly honest with his daughter, and maybe it's time that Vera is completely honest with her dad. He obviously knows that she's going through some tough times because of Charlie's death, but he doesn't know the half of it. Clearly, Vera needs to let her dad know what's going on, if only so he can understand and help her to fix it.

Vera knows that she has to do what the dead Charlies want her to, but she needs to learn how to forgive him first. Once she forgives Charlie for completely betraying her and dying, then she'll be able to move on.

Ken Dietz isn't making Vera work just so that she's financially in a good place, he wants her to have responsibilities and to understand that she has a duty to the world, and also that she has to work hard to achieve things. That's an admirable parenting goal.

Vera's dad doesn't mention anything about clearing Charlie's name because it's not his place to make that decision. Because Vera is so closely tied to Charlie, she's the one who can ultimately save his reputation or destroy it forever.

When Vera brings up the guy who flashed his junk at her when she delivered pizzas, her dad is appalled that she didn't call the police. In his mind, it's her duty to report that kind of behavior… even though there are other things that he's told her to ignore in the past, like the abuse going on at the Kahns'.

Vera hates the fact that her dad never did anything about Mr. Kahn's violent abuse toward his family. The way she sees it, he's complicit in the abuse because he's letting Mr. Kahn get away with it.

By the end of the book, Vera realizes that she doesn't just have a duty to Charlie, she has a duty to herself. She needs to take care of herself and make sure that she gets what she deserves. No one else is going to do that for her.