I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

The characters of I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You show the world various faces. As a result, they are treated differently depending on how they are perceived. As seen through how the townspeople treat the Gallagher girls, how Cammie and her friends treat Macey, and Josh’s family dynamics, the novel explores how appearances affect how people treat others.

The Gallagher Academy’s cover story is as an elite boarding school for rich girls. Though few of the girls who attend the school actually fall into this category, the people of the nearby town know nothing about the school’s true purpose and so judge the Gallagher girls based on the cover story’s appearance. In Chapter 9, while Cammie is out during driver’s ed class, Josh gives the school van the “Gallagher glare,” which she defines as “when people look at me as if I must be privileged” (97). Until the end of the book when Josh learns where Cammie goes to school, he treats her like a “normal” person, but when he learns the truth, he instantly turns on her, despite the fact that Cammie never acted like the stereotype of a Gallagher girl.