VLVL2 (8) She temporised

[Paul Nightingale]

In Ch7 we should pay attention to the sudden appearance of DL, a character
we meet for the first time as she, meeting Prairie, is updated on 'the story
so far': as a reader, DL has opened the book somewhere in the middle. In Ch8
we should therefore address the way the DL-Prairie relationship develops.
Moreover, Prairie is now an outsider called upon to read the signs, firstly
DL's relationship with Sister Rochelle, then the file on her mother. In Ch7
Prairie broke her links with her own 'story so far' in order to reproduce
herself as Frenesi's daughter, that is to say, the reader of Frenesi's
story. In Ch8, this relationship between reader and text is inseparable from
what can only be described as a declaration of independence on Prairie's
part. In turn, this declaration of independence is inseparable from the
evolving relationship between Prairie and DL, each of whom began, in Ch7, by
reading into the other a likeness of, or resemblance to, Frenesi. In Ch8
it's Prairie's turn to temporise; and the way the two chapters fit together
is an important part of the way the narrative develops.

>From "running her ass off nonstop" in the kitchen (110), Prairie is soon
proceeding "watchfully, at her own tempo" when asked to meet Sister Rochelle
(111). Then, she "[makes] a point of looking at her watch" to indicate that
she isn't taken in by Rochelle's story of "gaga little twits" (112). Then,
upon being told of the file on her mother, Prairie is "shaking with the need
to find out anything she could" (112). Nonetheless, she has to wait until
she has finished her kitchen duties before approaching the Ninjette terminal
Center (113). Subsequently, she breaks off when remembering that "she [has]
to be up before sunrise, to prep for breakfast" (115).

As Prairie leaves the computer on this first occasion, the story continues.
At the end of the chapter, "a couple of weeks after their arrival" (128),
we're reminded that the flashback covering both DL's meeting with Frenesi
and DL's own growing up (115-128), has been a story told to Prairie, whose
readership is now implicit. The exchange in the final passage (129)
indicates a degree of intimacy between Prairie and DL, which in turn is one
way of signifying the passage of time. It also reminds us that, in Ch7, DL
told Prairie she had to trust herself, as opposed to anyone else (103).