Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

“And Larry did understand. If he’d been missing a daughter, he would come here, too. He would go everywhere. He knew the worst thing must be the waiting, not being able to do anything, while your girl was lost in the woods or bound in somebody’s closet, hung from the bar with her own red brassiere.” 

Through the course of the novel, Larry’s sections vacillate between painting him as innocent or guilty of the crime. This quote demonstrates both of these ideas. The thought process shows Larry’s empathy and kindness, making him seem incapable of having killed Cindy and Tina; however, the details he speculates about seem oddly specific for someone unrelated to the crime. This back and forth allows the reader to remain uncertain whether Larry is guilty of the crimes of which he’s been accused. 

“The man against the wall had sunk to his haunches, watching from behind the mask, eyes shimmering in the eye holes, and Larry felt a strange forgiveness for him because all monsters were misunderstood.”

Though Larry faces an intruder in his home who wears a monster mask and clearly means him ill intent, Larry shows sympathy for him in this moment. This reaction gives insight into Larry’s character and also illustrates what Larry must have gone through. Perhaps more than anyone, Larry can understand how someone might be driven to desperate acts by being misunderstood, as he has been his entire life. 

“He hoped not to have to shoot any as he mushed along fanning the air with his hand. Here he was two years as Chabot’s law and he’d never fired his pistol except at targets. Practice. Never for real. Not even a turtle on a log.”

In Silas’s first point-of-view chapter, he establishes his lack of experience as a lawman. Unlike crime and mystery novels that center around a seasoned cop or detective who’s become jaded and cynical by all he’s seen, Silas reveals that he is still inexperienced in many ways. Silas’s lack of experience with shooting, in particular, also foreshadows that by the end of the novel, this will change, and he will be forced to fire at someone in the line of duty.