Early Twentieth-Century Fiction – Page 3 – English 358:358, Fall 2023

Tampering with Evidence

“…he laid the body down, picked up the mysterious pince-nez, looked at it, put it on his nose and looked through it, made the same noise again, readjusted the pince-nez upon the nose of the corpse…” (Sayers 22)

Sayers, Dorothy L., Whose Body?

I found this passage interesting because of the carelessness of the investigator. He tampers with potential evidence, and literally tries on the glasses of the dead man. Plus, he is exposing himself to any potential germs from the corpse. It shows how differently the investigative process and evidence was handled before the modern era.

Introduction to the Setting

“The taxi, under the severe eye of a politician, revolved by slow jerks, with a noise like the grinding of teeth. The block of new, perfect and expensive flats in which Lord Peter dwelt upon the second floor, stood directly opposite the Green Park, in a spot for many years occupied by the skeleton of a frustrate commercial enterprise. As Lord Peter let himself in he heard his man’s voice in the library, uplifted in that throttled stridency peculiar to well-trained persons using the telephone.”

-Sayers, Whose Body, p. 9

I took notice of the description of the setting. Such as the taxi being under watch, which I found interesting, including the noise of it “like grinding teeth”. The word skeleton sticks out to me as well, showing the age of the commercial enterprise and insinuating that it is desolate.

Dr. Thingumtight

“‘ The law, Dr. Thingumtight, respects the rights of the minority, alive or dead.’ Some ass laughs, and old Biggs sticks his chest out and gets impressive.’ Gentlemen, this is no laughing matter. My client an upright and honourable gentleman – is being tried for his life for his life, gentlemen -and it is the business of the prosecution to show his guilt-if they can—without a shadow of doubt. Now, Dr. Thingumtight, I ask you again, can you solemnly swear, without the least shadow of doubt,-probable, possible shadow of doubt— that this unhappy woman met her death neither sooner nor later than Thursday evening? A probable opinion ? Gentlemen ,we are not Jesuits, we are straightforward Englishmen. You can not ask a British-born jury to convict any man on the authority of a probable opinion.’Hum of applause.”

-Sayers, Whose Body, p.36

Lord Peters is mocking the role of doctor’s evidence when it comes to present it to a jury. We also see here the mention of “the rights of the minority” and “straightforward Englishmen” by Lord Peter in a mocking way as a critic to the judicial system.

A Corpse?

“Poor old Mother! Well, thanks awfully for tellin’ me. I think I’ll send Bunter to the sale and toddle round to Battersea now an’ try and console the poor little beast. So- long“ (pg. 3)

I feel like this is a very casual response to someone finding a body. Especially with the use of “toddle round.” I think the typical response would be to be more shocked and try to console his mother as much as possible.

Hope she wasn’t hysterical

“Hope your girl is a sensible young woman, what? Nuisance to have women faintin’ and shriekin’ all over the place” (Sayers 6).

Mr. Thipps was telling Lord Peter how he asked his housemaid to get him a brandy to take the edge off when he discovered the body in the bathtub. Lord Peter interjected to praise Mr. Thipps for preparing for emergencies by keeping the house stocked with brandy and basically asked if the girl made the situations worse by acting “hysterically.” Why was he attentive to the maids reaction in all this chaos? Was he trying to take the pressure off Mr. Thipps by picking on her?

Lord Peter Wimsey’s Hobbies

“It might become available, you never know — if the Church of Rome went to pot or Switzerland invaded Italy — whereas a strange corpse doesn’t turn up in a suburban bathroom more than once in a lifetime — at least, I should think not — at any rate, the number of times it’s happened, with a pince-nez, might be counted on the fingers of one hand, I imagine. Dear me! it’s a dreadful mistake to ride two hobbies at once.”

Dorothy L. Sayers, Whose Body?, pg. 4.

Unlike the typical “hard-boiled detective” trope that is used in most crime fictions where the detective is tough, cynical, and emotionless towards the violence that occurs in whatever novel he exists in, here we have Lord Peter Wimsey. Lord Peter, our detective for this novel, is not “hard-boiled” due to the fact that he associates solving crime to be a “hobby”, similar to that of bidding on furniture. Lord Peter seems to to be delighted at the prospect of having the “once in a lifetime” opportunity to be apart of this mystery, which is an uncommon approach in the typical mystery novel.

Difficult Relationship

“It’s because he stays out there, right under the window, hammering and sawing on that goddamn box. Where she’s got to see him. Where every breath she draws is full of his knocking and sawing where she can see him saying See. See what a good one I am making for you.” (Faulkner, 9)

This quote examines the difficult relationship between mother and son. This quote also infers that the son is trying to prove himself, in some weird way, to his mother showing her that he is making her a good coffin.

Balance

It wont balance. If you want it to tote and ride on a balance, we will have—”

“Pick up. Goddamn you, pick up.”
“I’m telling you it wont tote and it wont ride on the balance unless–”
“Pick up! Pick up, goddamn your thick nosed soul to hell, pick up!”
It wont balance. If they want it to tote and ride on a balance they will have

(96)

Sacred Word

“‘I give her my word,’ Anse says. ‘It is sacred on me. I know you begrudge it, but she will bless you in heaven.'”

Faulkner, “As I Lay Dying,” 140.

Though he skimps on many expenses throughout the journey to bury his wife in Jefferson (such as refusing to purchase a new spade to dig the grave with), Anse believes his honor rests on fulfilling Addie’s wish. It is this belief that propels the family on the strenuous forty mile journey to Jefferson with her body. Faulkner conjures the absurd and darkly comical when he writes what Anse Bundren deems as respectable, honorable, and dignified.

Dewey’s Dignity

“He could do so much for me if he just would. He could do everything for me. It’s like everything in the world for me is inside a tub full of guts, so that you wonder how there can be any room in it for anything else very important. He is a big tub of guts and I am a little tub of guts and if there is not any room for anything else important in a big tub of guts, how can it be room in a little tub of guts.”

– Faulker, As I Lay Dying, pg 58

It seems as though Dewey doesn’t feel very respected or has enough room in her life to do important things such as taking care of the family once her mother passes. She just wants help, and feels as though there’s an imbalance as ‘he’ is a big tub, and she is the small tub.

“‘Then she’s be upset, and I wouldn’t upset her for the living world. With that family burying-ground in Jefferson and them of her blood waiting for her there, she’ll be impatient. I promised my word me and the boys would get her there quick as mules could walk it, so she could rest quiet.”‘

Faulkner, William, As I Lay Dying, First Vintage International Edition 1990, pp. 19

Quotation of Anse within Darl’s excerpt. Another commonplace writer described Anse as “selfish” and it is interesting to inquire why. Is Anse’s promise to his dying wife a result of his dignity( how he wants other people to perceive him as worthy of respect) or selflessness to his wife’s final wish?

a lump

“Maybe it will reveal her blindness to her, laying there are the mercy and the ministration of four men and a tom-boy girl. ‘There’s not a woman in this section could ever bake with Addie Bundren,’ I say. ‘First thing we know she’ll be up and baking again, and then we won’t have any sale for ours at all.’ Under the quilt she makes no more of a hump than a rail would, and the only way you can tell she is breathing is by the sound of the mattress shucks. Even the hair at her cheek does not move, even with that fanning her with the fan… ‘She’s just watching Cash yonder,’ the girl says. we can hear the saw in the board. It sounds like snoring.”

Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying. Vintage Books, 1900. p. 12

Cora’s observation of present Addie juxtaposed with her musings about past Addie contribute to the dehumanization and objectification of Addie as a whole. This, combined with Addie being constantly subjected to watching her own son create her coffin as if it were a chore, emphasizes Addie’s loss of humanity in the eyes of those around her, and with this the dignity of being seen as a human being.

Anse only cares about himself

“How many times I told him it’s doing such things as that that makes folks talk about him, I don’t know” ( Faulkner 105).

Faulkner, W., & Faulkner, W. (1990). As I lay dying: The corrected text: Three novels: A summer of Faulkner. Vintage.

Anse answers his own rhetorical question, making himself the most important part of the sentence which highlights his narcissistic and selfish nature. In regards to dignity, he only seems concerned about societies opinion of his children rather than them genuinely respecting his deceased wife.

(woolf woolf revolution)

“How delightful to see you!” said Clarissa. She said it to every one. How delightful to see you! She was at her worst— effusive, insincere. It was a great mistake to have come. He should have stayed at home and read his book, thought Peter Walsh; should have gone to a music hall; he should have stayed at home, for he knew no one.

Oh dear, it was going to be a failure; a complete failure, Clarissa felt it in her bones as dear old Lord Lexham stood there apologising for his wife who had caught cold at the Bucking-ham Palace garden party. She could see Peter out of the tail of her eye, criticising her, there, in that corner. Why, after all, did She do these things? Why seek pinnacles and stand drenched in fire? Might it consume her anyhow! Burn her to cinders!”

Woolf, Virginia, Mrs. Dalloway (pg.163)

In this passage, Woolf writes in two different characters’ perspective. In order to help the reader be less confused about these shifts, Woolf bounces from Clarissa’s greeting to Peter’s point of view, then shifts the perspective back to Clarissa. I envision this shift in perspective almost like those arcade machines where there is a platform where a player can dance. (i.e. the popular arcade game Dance Dance Revolution) Woolf does a type of literary dance where she puts one foot on Clarissa, then to Peter’s perspective, then back to Clarissa.

Omnibus

“And Elizabeth waited in Victoria Street for an omnibus. It was so nice to be out of doors. She thought perhaps she need not go home just yet. It was so nice to be out in the air. So she would get on to an omnibus. And already, even as she stood there, in her very well cut clothes, it was beginning. … People were beginning to compare her to poplar trees, early dawn, hyacinths, fawns, running water, and garden lilies, and it made her life a burden to her, for she so much preferred being left alone to do what she liked in the country, but they would compare her to lilies, and she had to go to parties, and London was so dreary compared with being alone in the country with her father and the dogs.” (131)

Here, we can see another instance of Elizabeth and her surroundings being written similarly to the randomness of a stream of conscious. She begins with thinking about the omnibus, the air, and the omnibus again, and then the passage zooms out, involving the surrounding people into the stream of thoughts, but instead of an internal consciousness, it’s a collection of external thoughts. Visual opinions start to pop up of what Elizabeth looks like to other people, and bringing it back in to her internal thought of it being a burden, back to the thoughts, then to how London is for her. This randomness feels similar to a stream of conscious in a way where a thought changes with what a person sees or interacts with just like how the peoples’ behaviors changed depending on what they saw or interacted with.

What? Why?

If she worried about these parties he would not let her give them. Did she wish she had married Peter? But he must go.

He must be off, he said, getting up. But he stood for a moment as if he were about to say something; and she wondered what? Why? There were the roses

-Woolf, Mrs.Dalloway, 116

Here we see some tension between Mr. and Mrs. Dalloway because of the lack of verbal communication between the two. I also find it interesting how Richard goes from one thought about the party and then immediately to thinking about Peter, even though Clarissa has given him no reason to think that.

Ms. Kilman vs Mrs. Dalloway

“Clarissa was really shocked. This a Christian — this woman! This woman had taken her daughter from her! She in touch with invisible presences! Heavy, ugly, commonplace, without kindness or grace, she know the meaning of life!”

“You are taking Elizabeth to the stores?” Mrs. Dalloway said.

Woolf, Virginia, Mrs.Dalloway, 122.

The scene between Ms. Kilman and Mrs. Dalloway is an example of the problem of connection between two people in the novel. Woolf focalizes on both Mrs. Dalloway and Ms. Kilman in this scene and the reader is able to read the thoughts of both women, which are very different than how they act in front of each other. In the quote above, Clarissa is disgusted by Ms. Kilman’s presence, claiming she stole her daughter from her. And yet, to Ms. Kilman, Mrs. Dalloway asks a simple question. This also applies to Ms. Kilman. Ms. Kilman “glares” and “glowers” at Mrs. Dalloway on the landing but, in reality, she inwardly describes Clarissa as “small” and “delicate” with “her air of freshness and fashion”. Mrs. Dalloway hates Ms. Kilman but acts fair, whilst Ms. Kilman admires Mrs. Dalloway and looks at her in anger.

Peter not letting go of Clarissa

“But it was Clarissa one remembered. Not that she was striking; not beautiful at all; there was nothing picturesque about her…however; there she was…No, no, no! He was not in love with her anymore! He only felt…unable to get away from the thought of her …which was not being in love, of course; it was thinking of her, criticizing her, starting again after thirty years, trying to explain to her…she was worldly; cared too much for rank and society and getting on in the world.”

Woolf, Virginia, Mrs. Dalloway (pg. 66)

The passage starts off with Peter remembering his early relationship with Clarissa and the men she could have married. Peter tries to avert his liking to Clarissa, thinking negatively of her and bringing his mind to his present conversation with her in which he was reminded of her flaws. However, the text shows Peter in a real-time attempt to grapple with the fact that he lost Clarissa. His extensive criticisms can be interpreted as a defense mechanism to cope with losing Clarissa, projecting Richard’s traits onto Clarissa. Peter cannot let the idea of Clarissa go, her memories of her continue to bother and resent him.