Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
[...] And the only reason for Irene to be horrified at the thought of Clare's survival is that Clare would accuse Irene. When she finds out Clare is dead, "Irene struggled against the sob of thankfulness that rose in her throat."
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Given how worked up Irene had become over the assumed affair between Clare and Brian, even if aliens had used a tractor beam to pull Clare out the window, Irene would still have been thankful that Clare was dead. (Alive, and now exposed, Clare was a threat to Irene and Brian.) So, on its own, this line is not convincing as a guilty plea.
Of course, that line is not on its own. An abundance of such hints were given. It is clear that the author wanted to be sure all readers understood this possibility existed - at least in Irene's mind. The only open question is whether the author expected readers to accept this option outright, or not. I saw the option developing as I was reading, but I felt as if Irene was leading me to it and so I doubted it.
I like the thought that this might have been Nella Larsen's private little joke: Irene
passing as a murderer for the readers. But perhaps she would just wonder why people like me refused to accept the obvious.