Atdtda37: Awaken from his life, 1054-1055

[Paul Nightingale]

The first paragraph suggests continuity from the previous section ('All he'd
dropped in for really .' etc) and even suggests that sex might not have
taken place between Lake and Lew ('Often these days she couldn't tell if
something was a dream .' etc). With Deuce, it seems, out again quickly and
Lake left alone, there is a reference of sorts to the 'wild parties' she
attended once (1052). Perhaps 'continuous reality' (1054) invokes
photography, one still image succeeded by another.

If the previous section offered Lew's take on Lake and Deuce, here their
perspectives are offered; however, there is no reference to Lew or the scene
in the previous section. One might conclude that Deuce's dream ('a woman
lying next to him who seemed to be dead') has something to do with Lew's
case; and perhaps Deuce recalls all the crimes he has committed, including
Webb's murder. Perhaps the investigators who appear on 1055 replace Lew
insofar as Deuce attempts to establish a relationship with them. Earlier, he
has insisted he does the same kind of work as Lew (1053); and his reference
to 'crazy Anarchists' suggest he is still in the same business as when he
was introduced in Ch16. On 196 'Deuce came to imagine himself "on
assignment" ., a sort of undercover "detective" .' etc, and now he insists
he is also 'a deputised officer', even though his star/badge is missing
(1055). As interrogation continues, 'his connection with the crime, still
unnamed' might even recall Lew's crime, the 'sin he was supposed once to
have committed' (37). On that occasion Lew's guilt is certain if unnameable;
here, Deuce, whose guilt has been recorded by the narrative elsewhere, hopes
to evade exposure. 

 

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