2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #2 discussion

Liam bears tremendous guilt over what happened to Tessa McGrath, the prostitute his father abused and had him participate in her beating. Given the options he had that night, did Liam do the right thing? Should he have let Hamish the younger participate instead of him?

I don't think his strong conscience and protectiveness of his brother could have allowed him to let Hamish discover his potential to emulate his father at that point.

Of all of his options, Liam seemed to have chosen the one that did the least harm. I couldn’t think of another that wouldn’t have hurt Tessa more in that moment.

All the options were lousy. Liam had no choice in what happened to Tessa, his father had already decided her fate. His participation in her beating hurt him deeply, but if he had let Hamish do it, that would have hurt him too and angered his father even more.

I don't think Liam had another option. If he had let Hamish do it, who knows what his father would have done.

Hamish Sr. hated Liam. He was determined to break him anyway he could. The beating and death of Tessa affected Liam profoundly and infused his relations with women after that.

I think Liam did the best he could under the circumstances. Hamish was already showing signs of their father's sadistic tendencies and he realized that Tessa would have died if Hamish had beaten her.

It is that knowledge that Hamish Sr. killed Tessa anyway that had him taking justice into his own hands.