As you’ve completed all nine parts now and presumably don’t need to avoid spoilers, it may be worth re-examining the pairing of chapters 52 and 64 with the benefit of hindsight.
Chapters 52 and 64 do echo each other more than it first appears. They each feature opposing responses to the sudden and unnatural death of an estranged loved one.
Strike wakes to discover Charlotte’s suicide, but even before he receives the news he is surrounded by supportive messages from friends and family. Emily believes herself to be partly responsible for the death of her brother, having falsely accused him of sexual abuse before his (as she believes) suicide. She refuses to enter his burial site or desecrate it as her church demands. A church principle threatens violence.
There’s also Robin’s discussion with Shawna about Jacob’s soul and what he can expect after death. There’s another contrast here, I think. Jacob can’t call anyone for help on his own, but these small mentions of him are the echoes of his obvious need and the ways cult members are choosing not to hear it. Charlotte had many options when it came to seeking help for herself, but the only requests we know of were also deliberately ignored. In both cases the choice to withhold succor was a response to a longer history of coercive abuse, albeit in different ways.
The children of the UHC are obediently coloring in pictures of a man who died by suicide (after his family mishandled an attempt at rescuing him) complete with noose. Robin is alarmed by the evidence of their emotional neglect. Strike reflects on his childhood experiences with religion and the comfort of order, boredom and structure. A rector offers sincere condolences but gives him room to grieve as he chooses.
If we group chapters 53-54, we also have Robin forcibly, horribly confronted with her hurt and shame from a past relationship—not just her role as a victim but the way she failed Matthew in his time of need. Strike talks to his mental image of Charlotte, facing his own failures and motivations.
As a side note, while I understand why you describe Strike’s deleting Charlotte’s messages as “just shy of murder,” coercive threats like that are common in abusive relationships. The relationship was over. Charlotte was suffering, I’m sure, but she wasn’t tied to the train tracks as Strike walked away. She was holding herself hostage in an attempt to force him to re-engage with her, a tactic she’d used before and which she’d likely repeat as long as he responded. He could have called her sister or a suicide hotline, but presumably others could have done the same. Her family and friends surely knew she wasn’t doing well, given the assault charge. And she did have family and friends, as well as money, intelligence, therapists and doctors.
Wow! As is often the case, this post has my mind churning in different directions. Thank you! My comment for the moment will be that I hadn’t before encountered the part one- part two demarcation in GoF tidbit. Picture a mushroom cloud exploding through the top of my hair.
The thrice-denied connections are interesting... Len's nos as well as Robinxs rejections of Taio, Strike's attempt to remain incognito, also the three messages from Charlotte being deleted.
He deletes the third message without even listening to it, right? Perhaps that message wasn't the usual emotional blackmail, but actually contained vital clues to the circumstances of her death. Will we ever find out what she said?
First of all I love what you pointed out about the Celtic cross (ring within a ring!) and the meaning it had for Strike. I'd like to suggest carefully and respectfully that there is a latch and a turn. To be fair, I have been studying part 4 over a week and not overnight.
Ch's 52, 58 and 64 all mention the idea of credit and the leverage it provides. In 52 Robin's been demoted to manual labor and has contact with Shawna whose low status is a reflection of her underprivileged background and her neediness. In 64 Charlotte (the polar opposite of Shawna) had "nothing more to bet and nowhere to find credit." In 58 Sir Colin's £1000 reinstated Robin's status with the UHC. The meaning in the middle is all about the leverage money affords, but also the snare it can have for those who love it too much. In 52 Robin is mucking out shit, and intervenes in a scene between Emily and Jiang. In 64 Strike is "sick of filth and mess and scenes" and remembers "I put up with shit I'll never put up with again." In 58 Emily says Kevin "always agreed with me that you're [Becca] full of shit." In 52 Robin "recognized the tower like a giant chess piece" in a child's drawing, and in 64 Strike "spotted that odd tower...He wasn't a little boy anymore, vaguely threatened by the watching tower...If he did nothing else today, he'd demystify the tower that had lurked in his memory as a symbol of one of the worst times of his life." In 58 there's no tower but there is a "gigantic statue," "a twelve-foot-high man of straw." The dark humor of Emily's real straw man and Becca reading about Jonathan's proverbial straw man made me chuckle and wince at the same time. In 52 Shawna says Jacob is "marked boi the devil" which is in contrast to Daiyu who in 58 is described by Jonathan as having "been born awake...[and having] pure communication with the Blessed Divinity." In 64 Strike does serious soul-searching..."he forgave the teenager who'd pursued a destructive force...[and admitted] to himself he should seek something new."
Ch's 53 and 63 Robin and Strike have similar moments: Robin reflects Strike would "think she was mad" for kissing Mazu's foot and Strike feels an irrational claustrophobia in a "perfectly adequate hotel room." They both struggle, and talk to themselves, Robin's "Get a grip" is similar to Strike's "Focus."
Ch's 54 and 62, as you pointed out, have Robin's repeated "I can't" and Len's "no's" but we also have some wordplay with "libido" [not the word but the reality of it] and "lido." Also Robin fights a spiritualized sex attack with snot, a fake panic attack and the need "to go to temple [because] the Blessed Divinity's telling me to chant..." Len recalls "we thowt she'd had a sex attack"
Ch's 55 and 61 have, as you said, Strike reviewing Robin's notes and Charlotte's deleted calls. There's also Jonathan's plagiarism to draw attention to himself and Strike thinking the woman at the Connaught was trying to draw attention to Strike "and scupper his job."
Ch 56 has Reaney repeatedly asking Strike who else from the farm he'd talked to and admitting he hit Graves for being annoying. Ch 60 has Robin telling Strike she wants to talk to Emily, did talk to Sita but omits her chat with Lin in the woods. She also describes the manifestation of the stolen prophet, formerly known as Alex Graves, as "terrif---very creepy."
Ch's 57 and 59 are both about surveillance and the tools used in its operation. Mazu has fake air fresheners and outlets, Strike has fake glasses. The dark haired woman has her good looks and persistence.
One thing more. The meaning in the middle also includes the lengths people will go to justify their hypocrisy. Emily calls Becca "a filthy hypocrite." And it seems like Strike deals with some of his own hypocrisy as he sat in a church and realized he was no longer a person who wanted to justify damaging cravings.
Really, I had a hard time with Part Four, was already exhausted mid-way through the marathon, and was trying to figure out how these chapters worked together as I wrote up the post -- and it shows. I was distracted by the four chapter Comer chiasm and the Delauney appearance, too, ran down those rabbit trails, and simply missed all these great connections that you've spotted.
When I write this up, believe me, I'll be using this as my baseline rather than my first notes and crediting you for the proper Part Four break-down. It cheers me no end, almost beyond words, to see someone check up on my work and make real changes and improvements. Thank you -- and my hat is doffed!
John, you've blown my mind. One small point of correction though, the pic in which Nicholas’ arm was in a sling was Alexander Graves' 22nd birthday, and he was 23 when he met Mazu, so the pic was years, rather than days, before the murder. (I just re-read chapter 38, Strike's interview of the Graves family.) I've read up to the end of chapter 122 so SPOILERS for up to that point below.
I really think you're onto something about Phillipa, John. Thematically, it would fit, as sibling relationship are a big theme in this book. Also, it fits with Phillipa being keener on J. Wace (according to Abigail Glover)than she now wants to admit, her try to persuade Strike out of investigating Daiyu's death and, if Strike did see her and not someone else, being at Wace's super service. Maybe Phillipa is a top secret 'spirit wife'.
I think the jogger on the beach was Nicholas Delauney. I had an idea he might be, given he's described as a fit-looking man (you'd have to be pretty dedicated to start your morning jog before sunrise in August, when the sun is up pretty early, regardless of the fact that he was in the Marines). I now think that the person Barclay's trying to befriend with army anecdotes and alcohol is Nick Delauney. I wonder what the significance is of Barclay trying to get an invitation to the Delauney's house? They're hardly going to have pictures of grown-up Daiyu on the mantlepiece, are they?? I suppose it's possible.
I wonder if Nick being in the Marines has any significance for how Daiyu was disappeared? He could hardly have borrowed a submarine to take her out of the coastguard's search area, but maybe something like a solarpowered yacht that wouldn't make enough noise for people to have heard from shore...?
I've been thinking a bit more about the themes in Running Grave, and I think another pertinent one is the harm that carelessness can cause. Maybe the carelessness of the Graves parents, in not attending much to Phillipa, due to their concern about Allie, is the inciting 'event'
Just a bit!😆I was completely side tracked by them and when I realized it was Daiyu’s sister, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even considered her. I was completely distracted by the Delawneys!
As you’ve completed all nine parts now and presumably don’t need to avoid spoilers, it may be worth re-examining the pairing of chapters 52 and 64 with the benefit of hindsight.
Chapters 52 and 64 do echo each other more than it first appears. They each feature opposing responses to the sudden and unnatural death of an estranged loved one.
Strike wakes to discover Charlotte’s suicide, but even before he receives the news he is surrounded by supportive messages from friends and family. Emily believes herself to be partly responsible for the death of her brother, having falsely accused him of sexual abuse before his (as she believes) suicide. She refuses to enter his burial site or desecrate it as her church demands. A church principle threatens violence.
There’s also Robin’s discussion with Shawna about Jacob’s soul and what he can expect after death. There’s another contrast here, I think. Jacob can’t call anyone for help on his own, but these small mentions of him are the echoes of his obvious need and the ways cult members are choosing not to hear it. Charlotte had many options when it came to seeking help for herself, but the only requests we know of were also deliberately ignored. In both cases the choice to withhold succor was a response to a longer history of coercive abuse, albeit in different ways.
The children of the UHC are obediently coloring in pictures of a man who died by suicide (after his family mishandled an attempt at rescuing him) complete with noose. Robin is alarmed by the evidence of their emotional neglect. Strike reflects on his childhood experiences with religion and the comfort of order, boredom and structure. A rector offers sincere condolences but gives him room to grieve as he chooses.
If we group chapters 53-54, we also have Robin forcibly, horribly confronted with her hurt and shame from a past relationship—not just her role as a victim but the way she failed Matthew in his time of need. Strike talks to his mental image of Charlotte, facing his own failures and motivations.
As a side note, while I understand why you describe Strike’s deleting Charlotte’s messages as “just shy of murder,” coercive threats like that are common in abusive relationships. The relationship was over. Charlotte was suffering, I’m sure, but she wasn’t tied to the train tracks as Strike walked away. She was holding herself hostage in an attempt to force him to re-engage with her, a tactic she’d used before and which she’d likely repeat as long as he responded. He could have called her sister or a suicide hotline, but presumably others could have done the same. Her family and friends surely knew she wasn’t doing well, given the assault charge. And she did have family and friends, as well as money, intelligence, therapists and doctors.
Wow! As is often the case, this post has my mind churning in different directions. Thank you! My comment for the moment will be that I hadn’t before encountered the part one- part two demarcation in GoF tidbit. Picture a mushroom cloud exploding through the top of my hair.
The thrice-denied connections are interesting... Len's nos as well as Robinxs rejections of Taio, Strike's attempt to remain incognito, also the three messages from Charlotte being deleted.
He deletes the third message without even listening to it, right? Perhaps that message wasn't the usual emotional blackmail, but actually contained vital clues to the circumstances of her death. Will we ever find out what she said?
First of all I love what you pointed out about the Celtic cross (ring within a ring!) and the meaning it had for Strike. I'd like to suggest carefully and respectfully that there is a latch and a turn. To be fair, I have been studying part 4 over a week and not overnight.
Ch's 52, 58 and 64 all mention the idea of credit and the leverage it provides. In 52 Robin's been demoted to manual labor and has contact with Shawna whose low status is a reflection of her underprivileged background and her neediness. In 64 Charlotte (the polar opposite of Shawna) had "nothing more to bet and nowhere to find credit." In 58 Sir Colin's £1000 reinstated Robin's status with the UHC. The meaning in the middle is all about the leverage money affords, but also the snare it can have for those who love it too much. In 52 Robin is mucking out shit, and intervenes in a scene between Emily and Jiang. In 64 Strike is "sick of filth and mess and scenes" and remembers "I put up with shit I'll never put up with again." In 58 Emily says Kevin "always agreed with me that you're [Becca] full of shit." In 52 Robin "recognized the tower like a giant chess piece" in a child's drawing, and in 64 Strike "spotted that odd tower...He wasn't a little boy anymore, vaguely threatened by the watching tower...If he did nothing else today, he'd demystify the tower that had lurked in his memory as a symbol of one of the worst times of his life." In 58 there's no tower but there is a "gigantic statue," "a twelve-foot-high man of straw." The dark humor of Emily's real straw man and Becca reading about Jonathan's proverbial straw man made me chuckle and wince at the same time. In 52 Shawna says Jacob is "marked boi the devil" which is in contrast to Daiyu who in 58 is described by Jonathan as having "been born awake...[and having] pure communication with the Blessed Divinity." In 64 Strike does serious soul-searching..."he forgave the teenager who'd pursued a destructive force...[and admitted] to himself he should seek something new."
Ch's 53 and 63 Robin and Strike have similar moments: Robin reflects Strike would "think she was mad" for kissing Mazu's foot and Strike feels an irrational claustrophobia in a "perfectly adequate hotel room." They both struggle, and talk to themselves, Robin's "Get a grip" is similar to Strike's "Focus."
Ch's 54 and 62, as you pointed out, have Robin's repeated "I can't" and Len's "no's" but we also have some wordplay with "libido" [not the word but the reality of it] and "lido." Also Robin fights a spiritualized sex attack with snot, a fake panic attack and the need "to go to temple [because] the Blessed Divinity's telling me to chant..." Len recalls "we thowt she'd had a sex attack"
Ch's 55 and 61 have, as you said, Strike reviewing Robin's notes and Charlotte's deleted calls. There's also Jonathan's plagiarism to draw attention to himself and Strike thinking the woman at the Connaught was trying to draw attention to Strike "and scupper his job."
Ch 56 has Reaney repeatedly asking Strike who else from the farm he'd talked to and admitting he hit Graves for being annoying. Ch 60 has Robin telling Strike she wants to talk to Emily, did talk to Sita but omits her chat with Lin in the woods. She also describes the manifestation of the stolen prophet, formerly known as Alex Graves, as "terrif---very creepy."
Ch's 57 and 59 are both about surveillance and the tools used in its operation. Mazu has fake air fresheners and outlets, Strike has fake glasses. The dark haired woman has her good looks and persistence.
One thing more. The meaning in the middle also includes the lengths people will go to justify their hypocrisy. Emily calls Becca "a filthy hypocrite." And it seems like Strike deals with some of his own hypocrisy as he sat in a church and realized he was no longer a person who wanted to justify damaging cravings.
This is great, Sandy!
Really, I had a hard time with Part Four, was already exhausted mid-way through the marathon, and was trying to figure out how these chapters worked together as I wrote up the post -- and it shows. I was distracted by the four chapter Comer chiasm and the Delauney appearance, too, ran down those rabbit trails, and simply missed all these great connections that you've spotted.
When I write this up, believe me, I'll be using this as my baseline rather than my first notes and crediting you for the proper Part Four break-down. It cheers me no end, almost beyond words, to see someone check up on my work and make real changes and improvements. Thank you -- and my hat is doffed!
😭 thank you. Really it all reflects back on your teaching and example. Mutual gratitude, it gladdens my heart!
John, you've blown my mind. One small point of correction though, the pic in which Nicholas’ arm was in a sling was Alexander Graves' 22nd birthday, and he was 23 when he met Mazu, so the pic was years, rather than days, before the murder. (I just re-read chapter 38, Strike's interview of the Graves family.) I've read up to the end of chapter 122 so SPOILERS for up to that point below.
I really think you're onto something about Phillipa, John. Thematically, it would fit, as sibling relationship are a big theme in this book. Also, it fits with Phillipa being keener on J. Wace (according to Abigail Glover)than she now wants to admit, her try to persuade Strike out of investigating Daiyu's death and, if Strike did see her and not someone else, being at Wace's super service. Maybe Phillipa is a top secret 'spirit wife'.
I think the jogger on the beach was Nicholas Delauney. I had an idea he might be, given he's described as a fit-looking man (you'd have to be pretty dedicated to start your morning jog before sunrise in August, when the sun is up pretty early, regardless of the fact that he was in the Marines). I now think that the person Barclay's trying to befriend with army anecdotes and alcohol is Nick Delauney. I wonder what the significance is of Barclay trying to get an invitation to the Delauney's house? They're hardly going to have pictures of grown-up Daiyu on the mantlepiece, are they?? I suppose it's possible.
I wonder if Nick being in the Marines has any significance for how Daiyu was disappeared? He could hardly have borrowed a submarine to take her out of the coastguard's search area, but maybe something like a solarpowered yacht that wouldn't make enough noise for people to have heard from shore...?
I've been thinking a bit more about the themes in Running Grave, and I think another pertinent one is the harm that carelessness can cause. Maybe the carelessness of the Graves parents, in not attending much to Phillipa, due to their concern about Allie, is the inciting 'event'
Minor SPOILER for the ending of the book
Well, the sibling relationships theme did turn out to be key to Daiyu's murder but the Delauneys' were a bit of a red herring!!
Just a bit!😆I was completely side tracked by them and when I realized it was Daiyu’s sister, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even considered her. I was completely distracted by the Delawneys!
Me too, I hadn't considered Abigail either, I had the exact same reaction when she was revealed as the murderer. Rowling is a genius at misdirection!
I suppose that “recogonized Lin” should be “recognized Daiyu”