In this section, changes are made rapidly. The three girls are starting to lead very separate lives, which results in several different subplots that are evident through these pages. In the Mercedes subplot, Mercedes graduates, and is very much attached to Ralph Luvovitz. However, Mrs. Luvovitz is not particularly pleased; she wants Ralph to marry a Jewish girl. Eventually, Ralph rejects Mercedes, sending her into a whirl of control, where she cleans and cooks as a response to heartbreak. Lily stops Mr. McIsaac from drinking, with her seemingly otherworldly healing powers, or perhaps just the power of her inspiration and good nature. As Frances draws a bigger crowd to the speak-easy, she receives a new piano. The Ginger-beer deliverer, Leo Taylor sees her and thinks poorly of her. Frances breaks into the house of the Mahmoud on almost a weekly basis, stealing things for Lily. Mr. Mahmoud fires Teresa the maid, as he thinks she's stealing.
A lot of very tragic changes are made in this section, especially surrounding Frances. As Leo Taylor enters the speak-easy, the narrator reveals: "He dislikes drunks, and the prostitutes dismay him-they are all someone's daughter" (MacDonald 304). This is dramatic irony, because the reader knows that Leo is not aware that the "somebodies" daughter is actually the daughter of someone that he knows. It also gives the reader something to think about as we learn of the debauchery of Frances's world.
This particular "book" of Fall on Your Knees is entitled "The Diary of a Lost Girl". Presumably, this lost girl is Frances: "She is a commando in training for a mission so secret that even she does not know what it is" (MacDonald 307). The reader is reminded that Frances is still lost and unsure, like a child. I think her girl guide uniform is an obvious symbol for innocence; she loses her innocence when she takes it off to perform. Alternatively, Mercedes thinks of her like a cat, "Mercedes has ceased to worry when Frances disappears like a cat for days" (MacDonald 319). This is notable, because Frances has a pet cat, and the ways of a cat are very much similar to hers; uncaring, unfeeling, comes and goes as she pleases.
There is a lot of fog imagery in this section, both metaphorical and realistic: "It's as though a window has ben left open inside his head, admitting a draft. He can't get to it to close it. But he can look out it, even though all he sees is fog. It rolls into his mind, obscuring his ease, setting him to shiver" (MacDonald 323). Fog represents unclarity, doubt and a kind of sinister presence. Most of the characters of this novel are currently going through a mental fog as they travel through a real one as well. Things happen quickly in the fog; one cannot see danger approaching, or an accident waiting to happen. I see more of the characters at this point in the story like a ticking time bomb, a potential deer in the headlights, especially Frances.
I've come to realize that MacDonald often doesn't expose her character's motivation in a logical sense. For an example, a character will do something shocking and unexpected, usually completely untriggered. It is only later that we learn of their thoughts and feelings at the time, and why they made the choices they did. Often important details are not stated directly, but implied later. I'm trying very hard to enjoy this book, but its getting quite slow again.
Interesting Vocabulary
Balustrade: The French Word for banister; Mercedes gripped the banister.
Eldritch: Sinister or ghostly; Frances wants to leave a sinister gift on the pillow of Mr. Mahmoud when she sneaks into his house.
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