The mystery surrounding Ren's amputated left hand builds from the novel's first chapter. The major clue about its loss comes in the third chapter, when Father John reads to Ren about Saint Anthony. In the anecdote, Saint Anthony told a young man named Leonardo, who had kicked his mother, to "remove the part of himself that had committed the sin" (20). Leonardo cut off his foot, but Saint Anthony reattached it with a touch of his finger. In a similar fashion, Silas McGinty, Ren's uncle, had cut off Ren's hand when Ren was just an infant. McGinty used a knife to cut off Ren's hand, as he believes that sin resides not only "in the flesh" (20) but is "an indelible part of your soul" (20). McGinty saw Ren as a product of sin between his sister, Margaret, and Ren's father.

Ren's father, Benjamin Nab, not only uses Ren's missing hand to identify his long-lost son, but later, like Saint Anthony, heals Ren in a certain fashion. While many potential adoptive parents overlook Ren because of his hand, Benjamin knows his son will be missing his left hand.