- In the dean's office (which reminds Swenson of a high-end London brothel) where the tape is played.
- The restaurant where Swenson confesses to Sherrie.
- Watching The Blue Angel (pp. 264-266).
- The last chapter which is a sort of courtroom scene.
- The final scene w/ the deer and the bells tolling.
What final thoughts do you have about the novel?
The dean’s office reminds Swenson of a brothel because of the the wooden architecture and the only painting up is of a dog even though the school is for liberal arts.
ReplyDeleteThe courtroom scene was very touching for me because Swenson couldn’t believe that angels would continue with the lie even though she slept with Swenson willingly. Angelia doesn’t look at Swenson treating him like a stranger. All this for a book to be publish Swenson couldn’t believe the circumstances. he can’t believe that a school that he have been teaching at for over 20 yrs. have treated him so badly thinking they was his family.
ReplyDeleteThe courtroom scene shocked me. I never knew Swenson would do that to his daughter at that. It just proved for people not to like him. But I think the ending could've been stronger. The deer analogy was kind of basic and could've been replaced with the ending of the trial.
ReplyDeleteIn the scene where Swenson and Sherrie where both in the restaurant was very uncomfortable. Swenson took Sherrie out out of the blue and this was a red flag for Sherrie. He took her to a fine dinning place and in there he was trying to come up with the best way of telling his wife the truth without it coming out too ugly. He eventually ordered wine and salmon, while Sherrie had ribs. While they ate swenson told Sherrie about what he had done and to Sherrie wasn't surprised at all. She always knew that swenson lusted over his students but he always was able to contain himself. Sherrie was angry at him and called him out, she also asked why did he do it but his response to her just made her more angry. Swenson felt bad and kinda wished he never had thrown his marriage away.
ReplyDeleteAs Swenson watched "The Blue Angel" he started to notice that many of the events that happened in his life were similar to his situation. He often compared himself and tried to make himself feel better by saying that he wont let himself get into such a low position as Professor Rath. He also tried finding in the movie if lola lola had feelings for professor Rath to see in a way if Angela had feelings for him.
ReplyDeleteI think the courtroom scene showed us what game Angela was really playing. In the earlier chapters of the novel, we viewed Angela as a Gothic girl with lots of piercings and tattoos. But in the courtroom scene, her appearance totally changed. She removed all her facial piercings and all her tattoos were covered with her professional business attire. Everyone knows Angela to dress as if she's about to go fight in a war, so they may look at her as if she's someone not to mess with. But Swenson knows otherwise. Swenson knows that Angela is actually very vulnerable and doesn't portray that "don't mess with me" attitude. Around Swenson she acts very bubbly, only concerned about her writing. In the courtroom scene, she changes characters, puts away the Gothic Angela, and brings out the vulnerable Angela, most likely trying to persuade the judge, the jury and the witnesses that Swenson did in fact take advantage of an innocent little girl. Furthermore, when one of Sherrie's associates from the clinic takes the stand, she mentions that Angela would constantly visit the clinic because she is suicidal. This made Swenson look even worse because who would sexually interact with a student that is suicidal and vulnerable. Everyone who took the stand, made comments that would make Swenson look like the bad guy, except Carlos, who indirectly made him look bad. It was shocking when Ruby's ex boyfriend, Matt, took the stand. The only claim he mad was that Swenson inappropriately touched his daughter when she was younger. Matt's comment was the icing on he cake that could get Swenson fired without any remorse. But what was strange was how Swenson reacted. He asked himself why does this even matter and what it has to do with the case, as if what Matt said was true. If accused you of sexually assaulting your daughter, the average person would be outraged but Swenson wasn't. When it was time for Angela to give her side of the story, she did a lot of lying. She lied about things such as Swenson requesting her to come to her office a lot when she would go see him on her own. In the courtroom, Angela didn't even look at Swenson not once. But in the end of the scene, Swenson confronted her and she reacted by saying "Huh? What?", she was acting really confused as if she didn't know who Swenson was or what he was talking about. She treated him as if he was just a character in her novel. A lot of thoughts were running through my mind in this scene. Is the Gothic look Angela's true appearance? Did Swenson really sexually abuse his daughter? Were Angela and Matt is cahoots? For Angela, was this all about getting her novel published. Or did she in fact have feelings for Swenson? The ending was an "open" ending because most of the questions I had didn't have answers to them. The ending was very ambiguous and was left for interpretation by the reader to think what happens next. What I think will happen next is that Angela and Swenson will reunite somewhere along the lines. And I also think that Angela's novel won't really get published as well. I wasn't really satisfied with the ending because I wanted to see what happens to Swenson, his family and his job. Same for Angela and her novel. I think Francine Prose should come out with a part two to Blue Angel. It was really enjoyable and kept the readers on their toes and wasn't dreary like these other fiction books.
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