Sage’s scar is a physical representation of the guilt and trauma she carries around from the car accident that killed her mother. It’s the first thing she sees when she looks in the mirror, and she is consumed by the thought that it’s all other people see when they look at her. Her obsession with hiding her scar mirrors the way she hides her past from everyone around her, afraid that they will be able to recognize her guilt. It also gives her an excuse to shy away from socialization and normal relationships. The unfazed reactions of characters like Leo and Mary hint that Sage’s scar is not nearly as objectionable as she thinks it is. It looks worse to her because it reminds her of the blame she directs at herself for her mother’s death, even though no one else blames her.

The concept of a metaphorical “stain” or physical mark caused by a person’s wrongdoing reoccurs throughout the novel. Leo says that Josef is stained by his actions, and in the holy shrine Sage contemplates the stigmata, a word which can refer to wounds that mimic Jesus’s injuries from the crucifixion but it also the plural of “stigma,” a word which means a mark of disgrace.