I'm a Little Dizzy Now!

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Chapters 13 & 14

"Hallo! as the door opened and two figures were seen silhouetted against the hall-light. At the same moment a hansom halted at the kerb-stone, and one of the figures floated down to it in a haze of evening draperies; while the other, black and bulky, remained persistently projected against the light" (Wharton, pages 130-131).

With progression into the next few chapters, Wharton switched around her style to get a point across. I am not fully sure of her point but I assume that it will be answered in the chapters to come. Wharton decided to flip around the scenes where the events went out of order. In doing this, Wharton allowed for the same scene to be seen from two different points of view to get two different perspectives. Although this type of writing can cause my mind to go dizzy and confused, I was able to figure out the order of events by the end of the chapters. When the first point of view of Lily leaving the Trenor's house, a figure is noted to be seen. The figure ran off like I suspected and I assumed that it was Selden. My theory was factual as Wharton re-runs the scene with Selden as the character of focus. As he spots Lily getting into the hansom, he runs off like the paralleled scene. I quite like this style of writing as sometimes I am quite unsure of what is actually going on in everyone's minds and it is nice to know what each character sees from their point of view. From this particular scene I have a feeling that it was to note to the reader that Selden will always be chasing her as he has been for the entirety of the novel. 

In another instance with Selden (by far my favorite character), his cousin, Gerty Farish, is quite annoying. She cannot decide what she wants of Selden or Lily. She is content being Lily's friend because Lily is popular but cannot stand that fact the Lily is captivation Selden. I find it quite creepy for Gerty to be interested in her cousin in such a way. I thought the society was well over those close of relationships and marriages. Either way, I do not like this girl and find that she could be devious for bother Selden and Lily in the future.