University of Southern California

The University of Southern California (USC) is a prominent educational institution in the novel, chiefly significant through its drama program. For Marah Ryan, it represents a possible path into the arts; for Kate, the question of whether Marah might attend becomes part of a painful effort to prepare her daughter for a future Kate knows she may not see.

The Drama Program and Marah’s Ambition

Kate regards USC’s drama school as the best available option for Marah’s theatrical interests. She urges her daughter to apply for a summer job at the theater, explaining that the experience could strengthen Marah’s prospects of getting into USC. Marah says she will not work that summer and plans to stay home, then reveals that she has decided instead to attend the University of Washington, as Kate and Tully did.

The exchange is charged by what Kate does not say. She tries to make the conversation sound like ordinary parental guidance, even though Marah’s choices bring Kate’s limited time into view. Marah suspects that her mother does not want her to go so far away, and Kate recognizes the truth in that fear. Although she promotes USC’s drama program, she has also told Marah that California is too distant and that drama is not a secure choice.

Kate Reconsiders

Later, Kate asks Tully whether she still knows the person who runs USC’s drama program. Tully does, and asks why Kate wants to know. Without meeting Tully’s gaze, Kate straightens her wig and suggests that Tully call him because Marah would love to attend USC. The request reverses Kate’s earlier resistance: her anxiety about distance and the arts gives way to a practical attempt to open a door for her daughter.

Kate’s unspoken thought is that she will not be there for Marah’s college years or for the experiences that follow. She admits that the idea of her daughter in Hollywood frightens her, but also sees that Marah has grown up among dreamers: Tully is a television star, and Marah’s father is a news producer. Kate reaches for Tully’s hand and asks her to look out for Marah and the boys. USC thus becomes more than a school under consideration; it is part of the future Kate entrusts to her closest friend.

Significance

The novel does not establish whether Marah ultimately attends USC. Instead, the institution’s importance lies in the shift it helps reveal: Kate moves from trying to steer Marah away from the arts toward asking Tully to support the ambition she once feared. The drama program gives that change a concrete form, joining Marah’s independent plans to Kate’s recognition that she may not be present to guide them.