Journal #3

The one aspect of the novel, which touched me greatly in an absurd way, was how the novel revealed the rich inner secrets, lies and unspoken knowledge of various events. By MacDonald keeping these mysteries hidden and slowly revealing them, it created suspicion and shock in the reader’s mind. The first event, which illustrated this, was when Kathleen goes through childbirth. Materia “takes a pair of scissors – old kitchen scissors freshly sharp and sterilized to cut the cord – and plunges the pointier blade into Kathleen’s abdomen just above the topography of buried head” (135). This is what established many troubling mysteries because through the birth, Lily was born. Lily is the youngest daughter where the mystery surrounding her birth brings into questions whether or not she is one of the Piper sisters or not. Personally, I was under the impression that Kathleen’s pregnancy resulted due to her affair with a black stranger. This is exemplified when,  “Her daughter’s hands traveling over a black back, disappearing beneath the waistband of a pair of striped trousers moving between his daughter’s bare thighs…” (549). However, in the last few chapters of the novel, the reader is exposed to what really did happen. “He takes her in his arms. She is naked with shame, just wants some clothes, please –” (549). Horrified, disgusted, shocked, revolted, are some of many adjectives that run through the reader’s mind when they are revealed to this shocking news. It was incest. James had and affair with his own daughter, made her pregnant and was his fault she died. “Piper killed his daughter by not calling the doctor…” (355). This also reveals the true inner qualities of the character. In the beginning we were introduced to a friendly, caring, loving, hardworking father, to an abusive, violent, sick father. James abusiveness is further developed when he practices his molestation against Frances. For instance, “Daddy kissing the top of her head with a long knife in his hand…” (369). Furthermore, the catastrophe prevails and is further advanced due to the sins and secrets of the father. Frances is sexually abused, beaten and berated by her father. This is exemplified when, “There’s blood crusting her nose and  filling the gully that meets her upper lip” (366). This is very deep and appalling to see to whole family fall apart due to James offenses and uncalled behaviour. The reader sympathizes with the innocent Piper sisters along with their anger towards James.

Additionally, another occasion that unlocks the secrets of the many ambiguities is through Kathleen’s relationship with many individuals. Out of the numerous affairs and thoughts she had about people, Rose was the one that astonished me the most, particularly because she was a female. Kathleen had a lot of feelings for her along with sexual desires. This was very creepy and abnormal to me as it is stated when Kathleen, “did something crazy – I kissed her on the lips…” (523). This would be the last thought that would ever arise into a reader’s mind about Kathleen. This is mainly because Kathleen was at first portrayed as a sweet ambitious individual. It was quite a surprise to receive such peculiar information about Kathleen. Lastly, another incident, which alarmed me, was when Frances got shot. This was very unexpected. “Teresa swung the rifle through a hundred and eighty degrees, caught it with her shoulder, armed and fired (401). Poor Frances was pregnant and as a result, the infant died. However, despite all the disturbances and the conflicts that have arisen, MacDonald wraps up the loose ends and gives the reader a complete feeling of satisfaction, even though at times you are still struck with the unanticipated knowledge that was provided.