“Sloane considered The Shrine the semi-socially acceptable equivalent of a dick pic.”

This detail about Ames having pictures of himself with professional athletes all over his office succinctly explains his personality: self-obsessed and entitled. Sloane’s comparison of this wall to an unsolicited pornographic photo frames his office as a vulgar show of self-aggrandizement.

“Our universes seemed disconnected, occasionally bumping up against each other because of proximity alone. Or so we thought. We needed only to have knocked at the door to one another’s world to find out how our histories knitted themselves together, weaving shared threads into a noose of our own making.”

The novel quickly sets up the idea that the lives of the women in the offices are more connected than they think, foreshadowing that by whispering, rather than talking, the women are doing themselves a disservice.

“‘Only believe the nice things this one tells you about me, Katherine.’ And his laugh, it lingered a split second after the door closed behind him.”

Ames blatantly abuses his male privilege and power as company president and soon-to-be CEO. In this scene, Ames taunts Ardie with the fact that he raped her and that she will not come forward about it, knowing that if she tried to no one would believe her work over his.