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Originally Posted by Catlady
Who commits suicide by falling backwards out a window?
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It's got to be easier than looking.
More seriously, I have no idea.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
[...] Regarding the author's intention, I would argue that she did not intend the reader to see ambiguity--everything Larsen has told us about the characters and the events points to Irene being the agent of Clare's death. Irene, though, pretends otherwise--and again, this pretense is completely in character for her.
How do you explain these passages:
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It is possible to read those passages fear of being accused, or even having convinced herself that she had - even inadvertently - caused Clare to fall. By seeing her hand on Clare's arm, and then realising Clare is gone, it would easy to think yourself responsible - even if Clare had stepped back accidentally or on purpose.
Doing nothing would be in character for Irene, whereas the stretch to actually taking action is what the hints before the fall were leading us to be willing to accept. But I don't trust Irene, not even in third-person, so my explanation for those passages is simply Irene being self-centred and self-important again - everything is always about her (Irene). To again quote my favourite line of the book:
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Did that woman, could that woman, somehow know that here before her very eyes on the roof of the Drayton sat a Negro?
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It never occurs to Irene that "that woman" might be a Negro - no, as far as Irene is concerned, everything is about Irene, even Clare's death.