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Originally Posted by gmw
I think there is every chance that your interpretation is correct (as intended by the author) because there are many strong hints to suggest that Irene pushed Clare. But there are also the two glaring problems: how did she manage this without it being obvious to a room full of people that were watching them? And related but separate, where is Clare's scream? We're told so explicitly about the sounds that the absence of anything from Clare is strange - unless the "gasp of horror" is from Clare and that's all she feels like saying as her friend pushes her out the window.
I think it comes down to which parts you believe were intentional and which parts you believe were mistakes (or unlikely scenarios) by the author.
You pointed out at the the third-person telling could be more reliable than first-person, from which we might gather that we are expected to believe the hints we are given. But I'm not convinced that this inexperienced writer made the third-person choice deliberately for that purpose - as the distinction is quite subtle.
Whereas I (perhaps inappropriately) gave the writer credit for making me distrust Irene's PoV very early on, which means I was already set up to distrust the hints at the end. As a result I see the "glaring problems" mentioned in the first paragraph as being the way the author has given us to see past Irene's misleading hints. I don't even think there was an affair between Clare and Brian. (Is this any less subtle than the third-person thing? I think so, but  )
I am now more confused than I was when I first read it, because I now see that suicide is the only thing that makes sense out of their being no scream, but I never saw Clare as suicidal. So if the author made an error in this aspect, or expects us to believe Clare fell with no vocal objection, then maybe she also expects us to believe that Irene could have pushed Clare with no one noticing (even though they were all watching). Just how forgiving do I have to be, and of what? |
Considering the way Larsen was skimpy on details and specifics throughout the book, aren't you giving excess weight to the lack of a scream? Is it really a fact that a person being pushed would scream? I have no idea if there's evidence to support that; it seems just as likely that a person would be so startled by a sudden push that she might not have time to comprehend that she had gone through a window, not have time to think to scream. The text doesn't say, but my assumption is that Clare had her back to the window--she was, after all, looking into the room, at Jack. She'd have to turn around to jump. That would be seen; that would be obvious to all.
That makes suicide extremely unlikely. Accident is also unlikely--she would have had to back away from Jack, and everything we know about her is that she does not back away from confrontation or danger. Recall an early description of Clare:
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... there was about her an amazing soft malice, hidden well away until provoked. Then she was capable of scratching, and very effectively too. Or, driven to anger, she would fight with a ferocity and impetuousness that disregarded or forgot any danger; superior strength, numbers, or other unfavourable circumstances.
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Would that woman have backed away from Jack and toppled out a window? Especially when the superior numbers would have been on her side?
Whatever happened wasn't obvious to the onlookers--murder, suicide, accident. Since all eyes should have been on Clare and Jack, whichever it is, someone should have seen it, but no one did, so that alone doesn't point to any of the possibilities (though it makes suicide least likely). Unless you mean that Irene wouldn't have acted in front of witnesses, but that assumes she acted rationally and after calm consideration, which isn't the case here.