Chapter 12
Summary
The Tallis’s house is now void of company except for Emily and the cooks who are actually oblivious to the whole situation. This is a very odd thing for the house to be silent for it is usually filled with people who are always making a commotion. Emily Tallis seems to be not so bothered by the disappearance of her two twin nephews because she believes that“the twins would have come back on their own, scared into their senses by the immensity of the
world at night.” (pg. 137) And because of this free time accompanied by the soothing silence, Emily is left to her own thoughts and an insight of her thoughts is given. It’s actually stated that the twins were not the priority of
her mind and it was in fact their mother. It is revealed that Emily has a surprising “resentment” (pg.137) towards her sister for always being a “stealer of scenes” (pg. 137) and this is why she doesn’t really like Lola for she reminds Emily of her sister. Emily even remembers an instance where she attempted to gain attention by running into a French window and she cut her hand spraying blood everywhere, and it was her sister who they were trying to calm down for she was screaming so much. Emily believes that Lola will act in the same manner as her mother by making the twin’s disappearance more dramatic. “…she would stay out longer in the darkness, wrapping herself in some fabricated misfortune, so that the general relief when she appeared would be all more intense, and the attention would all be hers.” (pg. 138) Emily is actually annoyed that she has to take care of her sister’s children saying that it is her sister’s life imposed on her own. This makes it seem like Emily’s sister (Hermione) was stealing the attention even when she wasn’t present in the home. There is an oxymoron on page 139 when it is said that the “silence”of the house “hissed” in Emily’s ears. At first she welcomed the silence for she loved it so, but this sort of annoying silence makes a shift that attempts to symbolize her worry for the twin’s return. Emily then contemplates calling someone for help in searching for her missing nephews, but then remembers that she is expecting the usual call from her husband. It is then shown that Emily knows of her husband having an affair with another woman and it is mutual knowledge, but Emily is content with the whole ordeal because she enjoys being a mother and believes that the attempt of Mr. Tallis trying to cover it up is a form of him showing his love. (pg. 139) Emily then walks over to the drawing room and notices some moths circling a lamp and remembers a dinner when a professor was explaining why the moths are attracted to the light. Emily has an important thought when she says “How could anyone presume to know the world through the eyes of the insect?” This concept of misreading intentions is shown throughout the book and is most prominent in the next chapter. As previously stated, Emily is prone to excruciating migraines and (as a result) she is used to not being startled by loud sounds. So, she was not startled whatsoever when the phone rang and she knew it would be her husband saying he would be working late. They have their normal conversation and Emily tells him of the twins running away, startled, Mr.Tallis says he will call the police. But at this moment, Leon walks in with Cecilia, Briony, and Lola. Leon takes the phone and tells his dad to contact the police and has his mother sit down before he tells her of the terrible news.
Analysis
There are a lot of important topics that are discussed within this chapter of the novel. First of which is the resentment that Emily has for her sister Hermione. In the book, this is said to develop because Hermione would always steal attention and make the focus on her whenever possible and Emily believes that her sister’s daughter, Lola, is following in her footsteps by doing the same. The second major topic discussed is Mr. Tallis’s love affair. Emily knows that her husband is having an affair with another woman and Mr. Tallis knows that Emily is aware of this. Yet, they still seem to talk as if nothing bad is going on. In fact, Emily loves it because she takes his attempts at covering it up as an act of love. One of the most important topics discussed in this chapter would be when Emily is reminded of a dinner when she sees the moths in the drawing room. She remembers how odd it was of the professor to speak on behalf of the moths. This whole idea of attempting to speak for another or even interpret their actions is a major theme throughout the book in its entirety and its dangers are eminent in the next chapter. Another major topic (not so important as the previous one but still pretty important) is the view Emily has on Robbie. She believes that it is a joke that her husband decided to pay for his education in college and it seems that she just has a negative feeling towards him. This could be partly because he is of a lower class, but also because she may be slightly aware of the flirtatious nature he has towards Cecilia. This dislike towards Robbie makes her bias towards anything he does and this is also shown in the preceding chapters.
- Make sure to not mix up the summary and analysis sections. There is, for instance, some analysis in the summary section here, when you talk about the dangers of misreading revealed. You might also mention, in the analysis section, about the fact that Briony is, again, writing this after the fact, and is necessarily constructing, in this case, her mother's mind and thoughts.
The Tallis’s house is now void of company except for Emily and the cooks who are actually oblivious to the whole situation. This is a very odd thing for the house to be silent for it is usually filled with people who are always making a commotion. Emily Tallis seems to be not so bothered by the disappearance of her two twin nephews because she believes that“the twins would have come back on their own, scared into their senses by the immensity of the
world at night.” (pg. 137) And because of this free time accompanied by the soothing silence, Emily is left to her own thoughts and an insight of her thoughts is given. It’s actually stated that the twins were not the priority of
her mind and it was in fact their mother. It is revealed that Emily has a surprising “resentment” (pg.137) towards her sister for always being a “stealer of scenes” (pg. 137) and this is why she doesn’t really like Lola for she reminds Emily of her sister. Emily even remembers an instance where she attempted to gain attention by running into a French window and she cut her hand spraying blood everywhere, and it was her sister who they were trying to calm down for she was screaming so much. Emily believes that Lola will act in the same manner as her mother by making the twin’s disappearance more dramatic. “…she would stay out longer in the darkness, wrapping herself in some fabricated misfortune, so that the general relief when she appeared would be all more intense, and the attention would all be hers.” (pg. 138) Emily is actually annoyed that she has to take care of her sister’s children saying that it is her sister’s life imposed on her own. This makes it seem like Emily’s sister (Hermione) was stealing the attention even when she wasn’t present in the home. There is an oxymoron on page 139 when it is said that the “silence”of the house “hissed” in Emily’s ears. At first she welcomed the silence for she loved it so, but this sort of annoying silence makes a shift that attempts to symbolize her worry for the twin’s return. Emily then contemplates calling someone for help in searching for her missing nephews, but then remembers that she is expecting the usual call from her husband. It is then shown that Emily knows of her husband having an affair with another woman and it is mutual knowledge, but Emily is content with the whole ordeal because she enjoys being a mother and believes that the attempt of Mr. Tallis trying to cover it up is a form of him showing his love. (pg. 139) Emily then walks over to the drawing room and notices some moths circling a lamp and remembers a dinner when a professor was explaining why the moths are attracted to the light. Emily has an important thought when she says “How could anyone presume to know the world through the eyes of the insect?” This concept of misreading intentions is shown throughout the book and is most prominent in the next chapter. As previously stated, Emily is prone to excruciating migraines and (as a result) she is used to not being startled by loud sounds. So, she was not startled whatsoever when the phone rang and she knew it would be her husband saying he would be working late. They have their normal conversation and Emily tells him of the twins running away, startled, Mr.Tallis says he will call the police. But at this moment, Leon walks in with Cecilia, Briony, and Lola. Leon takes the phone and tells his dad to contact the police and has his mother sit down before he tells her of the terrible news.
Analysis
There are a lot of important topics that are discussed within this chapter of the novel. First of which is the resentment that Emily has for her sister Hermione. In the book, this is said to develop because Hermione would always steal attention and make the focus on her whenever possible and Emily believes that her sister’s daughter, Lola, is following in her footsteps by doing the same. The second major topic discussed is Mr. Tallis’s love affair. Emily knows that her husband is having an affair with another woman and Mr. Tallis knows that Emily is aware of this. Yet, they still seem to talk as if nothing bad is going on. In fact, Emily loves it because she takes his attempts at covering it up as an act of love. One of the most important topics discussed in this chapter would be when Emily is reminded of a dinner when she sees the moths in the drawing room. She remembers how odd it was of the professor to speak on behalf of the moths. This whole idea of attempting to speak for another or even interpret their actions is a major theme throughout the book in its entirety and its dangers are eminent in the next chapter. Another major topic (not so important as the previous one but still pretty important) is the view Emily has on Robbie. She believes that it is a joke that her husband decided to pay for his education in college and it seems that she just has a negative feeling towards him. This could be partly because he is of a lower class, but also because she may be slightly aware of the flirtatious nature he has towards Cecilia. This dislike towards Robbie makes her bias towards anything he does and this is also shown in the preceding chapters.
- Make sure to not mix up the summary and analysis sections. There is, for instance, some analysis in the summary section here, when you talk about the dangers of misreading revealed. You might also mention, in the analysis section, about the fact that Briony is, again, writing this after the fact, and is necessarily constructing, in this case, her mother's mind and thoughts.