Horror of incomprehension
When G.H. enters the room, she is puzzled. It doesn’t look the way she expects it. The longer she stays there, the stronger the feeling of sheer incomprehension becomes; it terrifies her immensely, for it seems that there is a riddle she has to but can’t solve. Horror and an inability to understand something are quite relatable emotions, and what is more horror is often born out of incomprehension. Just like a thousand years before, we are scared of everything we don’t understand. The only difference is that we are no longer afraid of animals and natural phenomena.
An enigma
An enigma is not simply a beautiful word or enchanting concept; it is a powerful force that makes us dream, study, try, and improve. We need it for self-development and personal entertainment. When G.H. suffers from an inability to understand why her maid hates her or why she is so angered by it, readers get their own enigma. Owing to the fact that the author doesn’t give us a lot of information on the protagonist, readers have to gather it by bits. We are mystified by this person, and we want to know everything about her; thus, we swallow every page of the novel greedily, hoping to find the answer. In this case, the enigma makes us go on.
A crisis
A crisis is not something we await hopefully. It is usually associated with emotional and – quite often – physical suffering, mood swings, and an inability to be happy and grateful. Thanks to recent discussions on the importance of mental health care, people can start speaking more openly about such realities. However, it might be so that a life crisis is just a next step a person has to take to understand himself or herself better. For instance, G.H. feels as if her world is in ruins, but she quickly realizes that it is not the end; it is the new beginning. On the other hand, it is difficult to stay sure that it is a good thing, for the author is good at deploying surprises.
