Thursday, February 26, 2009

When Will There Be Good News 3

In this section, many different pieces of information come together. Dr. Hunter's first name is revealed, Joanna. This is when the reader makes the connection to the beginning of the story with the young girl whose mother and siblings died. Joanna is now in her thirties and the mystery of the killer is still unsolved. Louise is a detective that is trying to find more information on Mr. Hunter. Up until this point Neil Hunter has been a shady guy. We don't really hear about where he goes, all we know is that he gets back late every night. I am surprised that Joanna is such a kind well rounded person. Oftentimes when someone goes through something hard as a child, it never leaves them. A death could really scar a child's memory. On the outside Joanna seems like she has a perfect life. When Louise pays a visit to the Hunter's house she wonders why Joanna is married to a guy like Neil, "Just what the lovely Dr. Hunter was doing being married to someone with business interests in the public triangle of Bread Street, with its strip joints, dodgy pubs and show bars, was any one's guess. Shouldn't she be married to somebody more respectable -- and orthopedic surgeon, for example"(71). This is when we learn that Mr. Hunter is up to no good wherever he works. It also brings up the question of why Joanna and Neil are married. They seems like totally different people. This fact starts to make one wonder that maybe there is something different behind Joanna Hunter, maybe there is something that the reader doesn't know.

Later in the section that I read, Reggie is on her way home when she is confronted by someone. She feels a hand grip the back of her neck and something jabbed into her lower back a man then whispered, "Don't make a sound, I've got a gun"(81). When she turns around she sees her brother with a grin on his face. This is only one example of how violent her brother is. He seems to always be into trouble. Although her brother, Billy is nineteen, three years older than Reggie, she still feels the need to look after her brother. Reggie is very embarrassed of her brother, Billy. "Reggie worried that one day Billy would drive by Dr. Hunter's house and offer Reggie a lift home and she would have to introduce him to Dr. Hunter. She could just imagine how this pinched, ferrety features would light up at the sight of all the lovely things in the Hunter's home. . . Reggie thought she would have to deny him. ("He's not my brother. I don't know who he is.")"(83). From this quote, one can tell that Reggie and her brother don't have a very good relationship. Reggie is ashamed of her brother and doesn't trust him. If Reggie would go so far as to pretend to not know her brother! I think there is more to Billy, there must be a bigger reason for Reggie's mistrust.

4 comments:

Samantha said...

This seems like a very twisted and mysterious book. In my opionin there is definatly something more going on between Mr. Hunter and Joanna. Maybe Mr. Hunter is really the murderer of her family or something!
That would be a huge twist!

Callan B. said...

I would also agree that there seems to be something going on between Joanna and Mr. Hunter. Though they are married there seems to be a strange and somewhat suspicious distance between them. At the same time it seems that Joanna is a symbol that even if you have suffered traumatic events in your childhood, it is still possible to overcome them and live a functional, happy life. It is very sad that Reggie would feel the need to deny her own brother, it definitely seems that there is something else going on besides the obvious.

Chélese E said...

This book is dark,in a good way. I definitely see why all the questions of the marriage are being raised. After child trauma we'd wonder why someone would marry someone like Neil. Maybe that also reflects how troubled Joanna really is, she's so damaged that she married someone whose damaged them self.

Spenser said...

oooh dark. It seems a bit suspensful like you have to keep reading to understand anything. I agree that there is something werd between Mr. Hunter and Joanna and it will be interesting to hear more about hte strange distance there. The relationships in this book seem to be strange and the connections that people have together seem to be missing an explanation. It will be interesting to hear about why the relationships are the way that they are. Good Post keep it up!