This chapter very much had the feeling of an epilogue to me, the pacing is now a lot slower, the whole feel of it is different to the previous chapters. Amy said somewhere that if she had been writing this as a "proper" book she may have stopped after the last chapter....and it does have that kind of feel to it. Almost as if I've finished one book and have picked up another. There was a very strong feel up till now that it was all about Jack and Ennis v. The World...whereas now it's more how they can live in the world. This isn't necessarily a criticism, just that now things feel different to me. I wonder if it's because all the action thus far has taken place in a short space of time, whereas now a few weeks have gone by.
I felt really sorry for Alma, there she was waiting for Ennis to explain how he and Jack weren't what it looked like...trusting her fiancee. And it turns out it was a lie. Thank goodness Ennis came clean, because he really has treated Alma very shabbily. She deserved better. Why he thought she might want to keep his ring I don't know. He's lucky she wasn't a bit more feisty or else he might have ended up with it in the place he might allow Jack to go one day!!!!
And Dane....much as Ennis hated him he turned good for Jack, and was there when he was needed. I can't remember the exact quote but when he reminded Jack that Ennis did what he did because he LOVES JAck, it seemed a little bit might be seeping through into Jack's consciousness. Hurray.
I'm still overly interested in what Colin and Ennis are going to be saying to each other! Next chapter, maybe......?
There was one scene in particular that didn't feel real to me; the scene being Jack's epiphany when he saw the young man who could have been himself. And it struck him that if he could feel compassion for this boy, he could feel it for himself and perhaps he was good after all. 32 years of abuse don't, in my opinion, enable a person to have a sudden moment like that where they realise that everything they have been taught, everything that is ingrained in their psyche over three decades, might not be true. Up till that point Jack had been portrayed as a man with deep psychological problems. His belief that he would be better off dead, and his conviction that it was a good thing to be tortured and killed in exchange for his loved one to be spared can't suddenly be erased in the space of eight weeks. I don't think it's believable that a person with such strong and extreme convictions about themselves can, over such a short space of time, be heading off in totally the other direction.
I know that his realisation is only the beginning, and that not everything is fixed, but if he can think that after a few weeks it won't be long before he's fully recovered from both childhood and adult trauma. And that just doesn't sit well with me.
However - LOL - I am always in a minority of one where these things are concerned!
And whatever their feelings and realisations the sooner Ennis finds out where Jack is, or Jack realises he needs to get back to KC to be with Ennis, the better!!
I also totally loved the way you began the chapter with a flashback to their time in the flat....I was thinking there would be no more of that now, and was so happy to read that.
Topic: Shades of Grey by Midwest-girl (Read 711256 times)