Norma’s internal dialogue appearing during Roy’s chapters, such as during the job interview and when he talks to Eve
–In chapter 11, we begin to sense the wall breakdown between the separate identities of Roy and Norma. Positioned as if in the back seat of the car ride between Eve and Roy, the first-person narrative seems to have shifted to an almost wholly third-person description.The bra being found causes Roy to deviate from his traditional “grounded” narrative. The bra is a part of his hidden person, Norma. He begins to go into magazine speak, a characteristic typical of Norma as he describes ways to clean out the stain from the white bra.
- Suggesting an ingredient…“That get your clothes whiter than the day they were bought” (178)
Norma is Seemingly Paradoxically omniscient here shown through her narration but Roy’s reported thoughts and direct speech, norma is an unreliable narrator yet speaks as if she knows everything about everyone, creating the paradox- she is biased, almost delusional- nobody perceives situations in the same manner as her
- The job interview
- When he encounters Mr. Hands. Roy would not have known about Norma’s experience meeting Mr Hands for the first time but her voice still comes through “Perhaps I should introduce myself, thought Roy” strongly implying they are the same person.
Henah: The role that Mary plays in the tension between the split personas of Roy and Norma
- Mary acts as a mother to Roy, a nurturing, caring figure, while she remains a more distant ‘housekeeper’ to Norma
- Considering that she is, in reality, mother to both Roy and Norma, this seems to be a clear rejection of Norma and her femininity
- Mary disposing of Norma’s clothes when she was younger can be interpreted as a desperate attempt to rid of the persona of Norma herself, but also as an attempt to move forward beyond the immense grief that Roy harbours
- Therefore Mary’s growing acceptance—or tolerance—of Norma and her clothing choices are monumental. It breaks down the formally clear distinction between Norma and Roy, and one starts to bleed into the other
Maya: Dichotomy between norma and Roy, mary’s treatment of each. Photos and their significance to the concealment of norma and the personal identity she holds
- “Not a single photo of me”
- Plays a big role in the allusion to roy and norma being the same person
- They cannot simultaneously exist, even in photos
- “Somehow she always manages to cut me out of the shot”
- Professional photos will ‘mean something to me – something quite special’ (197)
- Make her feel ‘Invincible’ like ‘64000 silver shillings’ (201)
- Power that comes with knowing norma’s true identity?
- Mary’s treatment of norma after Roy gets a job and settles hints towards the duality, but the reluctance and outright denial of photographing her still carries an underlying tension
- photos serve to dramatise and emphasise norma’s womanhood, mirroring her heightened sense of femininity at the moment
- Roy being representative of both Norma and himself is hinted towards by all the photos of him in the house
- Especially as norma is now described as more in ‘limbo’ and ghostly when Roy is not home