Presumed Guilty

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of substance use, addiction, racism, mental illness, death, and illness.

Presumed Guilty explores how crime tests the bonds between families and friends, both breaking and strengthening these relationships. Aaron’s felony drug conviction colors his familial relationships. Though he grows closer with Bea and Rusty as he lives under their supervision, Aaron’s relationship with his father suffers, since Lloyd’s new wife, Camille, doesn’t want a felon near her children. When the text opens, Aaron has been in recovery and improving his life for a year, but his past actions remain prominent in his family’s mind. Bea remembers how Aaron used to steal from her and go no-contact when he was using, so when he disappears on a camping trip without a word, she immediately assumes the worst about his behavior. Bea is constantly paranoid that he will slip up, so she is increasingly critical of Aaron’s decisions.

Aaron’s arrest has an immediate impact on Rusty and Bea’s relationship. Bea is thoroughly convinced of Aaron’s innocence, and when Rusty opposes even slightly, Bea “sounds like she is casting blame, instead of welcoming [his] support” (127). Bea will always choose her son over Rusty, so he learns to keep his suspicions to himself, which is unnatural in their honest relationship.