Developments and such

Last Sunday, I gave my overall view of each of the three biggest characters as well as the heads-up that much of what I said would become outdated as the book progressed.  Since I have a lot to say I'm just going to jump right into it; time's a-wastin' here.

At the end of Chapter 12, Richard finally gets fed up getting his plans denied by Therese, and as I said in my last blog, rightfully so.  The guy is totally in the right asking her to go to the concert with him, but she can no longer bear spending long periods of time with him.  The book makes pretty clear that once Carol comes into her life, Therese wants nothing to do with Richard.  So finally it boils over and Richard loses it; he approaches her aggressively on the matter.  Therese responds with the classic "You don't understand" (154), which she repeats later in the argument but also acknowledges is total bull.  Richard understands fine.  However, my dude did surprise me with how he saw Therese as being in a "trance" or "daze," and that Carol "knew what she was doing," and "shouldn't play you like this" (154).  This fits in exactly with how society unfortunately saw homosexuality at this time, as a mental perversion or sickness, and to me this is rather disappointing.  I thought Richard would be above that and a little ahead of his time, as I feel his character previous to this suggested.  He keeps insisting that she will change her mind and return to sanity, which, again, would have been very typical of how many people felt about such things in this era.  Now, I'm going to make a leap here.  I know this isn't going to be well received, but here goes: I think this is a weak attempt by Patricia Highsmith to both antagonize Richard as the mean, simple-minded old boyfriend and also incorporate current cultural issues in her novel.  Hold on, let me say why I feel this way.  There is no doubt that she, meaning Highsmith, would have been dead on to make this kind of claim about society.  The other novels in Lesbian Pulp Fiction and other queer genres prove this so overwhelmingly it's almost comical.  I also feel she did a good thing by depicting this ignorant and archaic mindset, but I just don't think it works with Richard.  The Richard I read earlier in the novel wouldn't have reacted in this way, but then again, I'm biased.  I'm living in a much different time; when I meet a nice and intelligent person, I can safely assume that they won't have ignorant beliefs such as the ones portrayed through Richard.  I guess even amiable people with their head on straight in the 1950's just could not look at certain things the way we do now, so I am willing to concede my former statement, but not entirely.  Moving back to the argument now, I also couldn't help but dislike Therese even more.  In addition to continually using this curt, emotionless, and somewhat condescending tone, she also really goes for the jugular on Richard.  I mean, it was just revealed that she has been avoiding him, the guy she's dated for years, because she has a crush on a women she met a couple weeks ago, so I don't know why she pretends to be surprised by his reaction.  Then, she changes the subject from their relationship to taking a real stab at Richard's profession.  Jeez, lady, this guy was your friend!

A week later, the argument continues, and Richard finally makes a good point when he says, "What really makes me sore is you act like I'm not worth anything, that I'm completely ineffectual" (157).  Then Therese responds in typical fashion with, "I don't have any quarrel with you.  It's you who chose to quarrel over Carol.  She hasn't taken anything from you, because you didn't have it in the first place" (157).  This is real garbage right here.  Of course you don't have any quarrel!  You fell in love with a stranger!  And how can she be surprised he wants to quarrel over the woman who has ten years on Therese and has been spending every moment she can with her?  Essentially, I have a big problem with how self-centered Therese can be.  She couldn't stand Mrs. Robichek because of her ugliness, and now she can't stand Richard because he takes away time from seeing Carol, the only person she actually cares about.  I also found it interesting how when she's talking with Carol later she says Richard's love for her, "doesn't feel like love," and that she thinks it's all just for show.  This is kind of hilarious to me, because the way Richard is acting and has been acting all this time has love written all over it.  Therese on the other hand seems to think seeing a really hot woman and hanging out with her for a little bit is the basis for love like no other.

Well, as far as Richard and Therese are concerned, it pretty much ends there.  Carol invites Therese to go on a trip, so Richard writes for a bit but Therese of course never responds and Richard finally wises up and officially ends it via letter.  To sum up what happens pretty quickly, Carol and Therese reveal their love for each other and have a great time on their trip; unfortunately, Harge, Carol's wife, has a detective follow them to prove that Carol is a lesbian to get full custody of Rindy.  Carol has to choose between Rindy and Therese, and chooses Rindy.  Therese is clearly distraught, but through work and the simple effects of time she recovers, a more mature, independent woman.  For a moment there's this possibility of Danny, a relatively unimportant character, swooping in and really changing the outcome of the novel, but it fades pretty quickly.  Therese's feelings were clearly not part of some "trance" as Richard would have put it, as there is some obvious significance in her interaction with the actress Genevieve Cranell.  

I know what a lot of you are probably thinking.  First of all, my views on everything, namely Therese, Richard, and Patricia Highsmith, are stupid and unsubstantiated.  Fair.  I get it.  A lot of this is my opinion so you are probably right.  Secondly, what about Carol?? What about their relationship???  Well, here's the thing.  Carol is a pretty static character.  I actually like her.  She's very real, and she's not afraid to give actually very accurate advice and remarks to Therese.  Their relationship is also pretty static; I really don't have much to say about it.  Carol loved Therese.  Therese loved Carol, to a ridiculous degree.  One thing really stood out to me during their final moments together.  Therese, after much internal conflict, refuses to return to Carol because, "You would betray me again" (279).  If that isn't the most selfish thing I've ever heard, I don't know what is.  Carol had to choose between Therese, a teenage girl she knew for about a month or so, and her child.  Her child. The person she birthed.  How could Therese ever consider that betrayal?  This only makes me more and more skeptical of both Therese's character and also her understanding of love.

EDIT:  So I missed a big thing.  Therese DOES return to Carol in the last sentence.  This doesn't change much of what I said, but I do want to make that clear.