Essay Questions

There is a heavy mystical undertone to the novel. How does the author convey this?

The main way in which the mystical is invoked in the novel is through the character of Gar Sawtelle. Even after his murder, he remains a key character in the story, and not just because of the havoc that his death has wreaked; Gar appears to other characters at key points in the narrative and these appearances are instrumental in revealing his killer.

The outline of Gar's ghost first appears to his son, when Edgar is in the barn where Gar was killed. Edgar follows the vision of his father to a particular spot in the barn, where he finds a discarded syringe that is most likely the syringe that was used to kill him. Edgar realizes that the syringe belongs to his uncle Claude and realizes also that his father is trying to let him know how he died and who murdered him.

The second time he appears is at the end of the story, when the barn is on fire. Both Claude and Edgar are trapped in the barn, but when Claude tries to make his exit, he sees the outline of the ghost of his victim, and the barn is suddenly filled with thick acrid smoke, which prevents him from leaving safely. It is intimated that Gar is responsible for the smoke and that he has avenged his own death by making sure that Claude perishes in the fire.

Does Edgar's mother bear any responsibility for the murders of her son and her husband?

Trudy Sawtelle is the object of Claude's desire, but it is not evident from the narrative whether or not she realizes this. It's likely that she does not, or if she does, considers it a harmless attraction. There is no suggestion that she has encouraged him at all. However, after her husband's murder, she is very susceptible to Claude's machinations, and it is surprising that she does not suspect him at all of foul play in the death of her husband because the fact that he is there ready to help her in her loneliness is rather too coincidental.

Even if she has given Claude the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Gar's death, the way in which her son is treated by Claude is an entirely different matter, and had Trudy taken more notice of Edgar's observations about Claude, or his entreaties to her to end the relationship, then her son might not have met such a tragic end. Largely taking Claude's side, Trudy does nothing to prevent her son's exile from the farm, and it is not until it is too late that she agrees to help him prove to her that Claude is the murderer. If she had just taken him at his word then he would not have had to go to the barn to find evidence to present to her, and might therefore not have died in the fire that Claude was able to cause.