"They do it with mirrors" - a problem.
I'm rereading "They do it with mirrors" and there is something bothering me. After a couple of days of visiting, Miss Marple asks Carrie-Louise whether she has any worries. She answers: "...I've never been able to alter people - I don't see how you can. So it wouldn't be any
good worrying,
would it?"
But if she feels people can't be altered, how is is that she supports an institute that is dedicated to changing young delinquents? Her statement fits the conclusion of the whole book SPOILER - that the chief idealist turns out to also be a master criminal - but not her behavior before and during most of the story.
Anyone have any explanation?
By the way, as some of you know, I'm hooked on comparisons between books by different mystery writers. Well, in Ellis Peters' "Rainbow's End" there is mention of a school for young delinquents, with pretty much the same philosophy - that many juvenile delinquents are bright but need chalanging and channeling. There the school did it's job - students turned out well, and the character who is an alumni of the school is actually an actor - but the school closed because of lack of funds. Ironic, considering that in TDIWM lack of funds for the school is at the bottom of the crime.
But if she feels people can't be altered, how is is that she supports an institute that is dedicated to changing young delinquents? Her statement fits the conclusion of the whole book SPOILER - that the chief idealist turns out to also be a master criminal - but not her behavior before and during most of the story.
Anyone have any explanation?
By the way, as some of you know, I'm hooked on comparisons between books by different mystery writers. Well, in Ellis Peters' "Rainbow's End" there is mention of a school for young delinquents, with pretty much the same philosophy - that many juvenile delinquents are bright but need chalanging and channeling. There the school did it's job - students turned out well, and the character who is an alumni of the school is actually an actor - but the school closed because of lack of funds. Ironic, considering that in TDIWM lack of funds for the school is at the bottom of the crime.
Comments
Another deduction I could possibly make is when Carrie Louise said, "I've never been able to alter people", she seems to be talking mainly about herself and not the institution, based on the indication that she said "I". She couldn't change people but that didn't mean that anything or anyone outside of herself could. She tells Miss Marple, "I don't see how you can." And when she adds this, I can't find any explanation or a loop-hole . . . .unless . . . . it seems to me that the first deduction is the one that makes the most sense to me.