Solitaire - Chapter 1
overanalyzing/-interpreting and probably pointing out the obvious... just random notes and thoughts (ca. 2100 words in the form of bulletpoints)
counting got fucked up, imma fix it later, sorry if it's confusing to read -> should be fixed now
Solitaire, a fictional story with
Tori (Victoria Spring) as homodiegetic narrator
Pride and Prejudice Quotes introduce us to the tone of Tori’s story
→ we know that Tori rather identifies with mr Darcy, so lets see what we find about Mr Darcy that might tell us something about Tori before we even get to know her:
Quote 1:
‘And your defect is a propensity to hate everybody.’
‘And yours’, he replied with a smile, ‘is willfully to misunderstand them.’
→ we learn about Mr Darcy that he allegedly tends to hate everybody and that he assumes willful misunderstanding one sides of the other party
(PART 1) Quote 2:
Elizabeth Bennet: Do you dance, Mr Darcy?
Mr Darcy: Not if I can help it.
→ without having a specific pace as instance in mind, it definitely sounds like something Tori would word for word answer to a question as the one given
• Getting to know Tori, before she ‘officially’ introduces herself to the reader (p.3f)
she perceives the majority of people in school as almost dead, including herself (p.3)
→ creating the picture of a crowd that allegedly shares a tragic similarity
2. she observes her steady numbness opposed to the socially anticipated numbness as reaction to the contrast of a phase of event (here: Christmas) and the eventless phase after (p.3)
→ differentiating herself from the crowd
3. Becky says that Tori looks like she wants to kill herself (p.3) to what Tori responds with ‘It’s funny because it’s true’ (p.4); Tori describes Becky’s reaction as her looking some more without really looking (p.4)
→ Tori feels perceived by Becky, but not seen
4. Tori says she and Becky are laughing about something that isn't funny (p.4)
→ Tori’s inauthenticity
5. Becky realizes Tori’s apathy and moves away while Tori leans into her own arms and falls half asleep (p.4)
→ Becky not taking action but physically bringing some distance between Tori and her, while Tori stabilizes herself by her own strength, escaping into a state of being half asleep but also halfway remaining in reality
6. Tori’s focus on appearance and her insecurity about her own
→ changes in peoples’ appearance like in hair and makeup that make herself feel ‘inadequate’ to which she ‘deflates’ into a chair a.k.a. makes herself smaller and hides away (p.4)
Tori’s ‘official’ introduction to the reader (p.4f)
‘My name is Victoria Spring’
→ she starts off with her full name
2.she makes up a lot of stuff in her head
→ focus on reality in form of her interior world
3. likes to see, and blog, and is going to die someday
→ listing the obvious fact of dying right beside other mundane activities emphasizes the priority of that topic in her daily life
4. Rebecca Ellen as only real friend and therefore probably best friend (p.4); Tori categorizes her as a ‘popular girls’ due to being recognized and therefore popular because she has long purple hair (p.4); Tori differentiates between being known by name and known personally (p.4)
→ Tori categorizing people even her friends
→ Tori challenges the significance of being popular and its lack of guaranteeing depth and significance
→ Question: Since when are people popular in school when they have recognizable purple hair? In my experience teenagers with colored hair are the one’s being likely to be bullied by the popular ones 🙄
5. Evelyn Foley categorizes as ‘alternative’ due to her appearance (p.5)
6. Tori questions if Becky actually likes Evelyn and she believes people only pretend to like each other (p. 5)
→ does Tori think that, because she only pretends/ feels like she pretends?;
→ is Tori worried that people only pretend to like her (believes that she is so unlikable, people must pretend)?
7. Tori does not participate in Becky and Evelyn’s conversation and only reacts to them when she ‘deduces’ she’s supposed to (p.5); she feels ‘pressured’ to contribute something to the conversation (p.5); she expresses her disinterest in the current discussed topic (p.5) and believes she ruined the conversations, so she leaves
→ Tori doesn't connect naturally with people, even when she considers one of them her friends and rather feels pressured to react in certain way than feeling invited to share herself authentically
→ without Becky and Evelyn even saying anything nor showing any reaction regarding Tori impacting the conversation immensely negatively, Tori’s insecurity of not meeting expectations causes her to escape the situation right away
8. Tori says she sometimes hates people what must be bad for her mental health (p.5)
→ does she include herself in that statement like she did in the beginning (p.3)?
→ self-awareness
→ awareness of mental health (I’m just adding that, because when I was her age ‘mental health’ was not a term that was used too often yet nor truly cared about/ talked about, so in my reality it is somewhat remarkable that Tori observes herself and immediately evaluates whether her thoughts could be detrimental to her health, that she immediately makes that connection; I also wonder if that’s caused by being confronted with mental health due to Charlie being such a big part of her life)
9. Tori focuses on ‘social hierarchy’ in school (p.5)
→ categorizing her social environment
10. ‘shoot me in the face’ (p.5)
→ another self-detrimental joke/ phrase
→ radical way of thinking and agains with the worst outcome for herself in mind
11. Tori not feeling pretty in school uniform (p.6)
→ insecurity about her appearance
the plot commences or Tori in action
Tori sees and follows post-it (p.6)
→ she observes and takes action
2.other people don’t see post it; ‘…or they don’t care. I can relate to that.’ (p.6)
→ people oblivious; Tori differentiated from people
→ Tori can relate to the general sense of not caring, however in this case she does care contrary to her words; at least she cares enough to register the post-it and actively follow it
3. doing stuff that other people don't seem to care about makes Tori feel like she is doing something important (p.7); ‘mainly because no one else is doing it’ (p.7)
→ differentiating herself from others
→ paying attention to things that seemingly don't get attention (Is that an interior wish of hers as she feels like not truly being payed attention to?)
→ shows her trait of not leaving things (or people) alone by themself (Charlie)
→ she cares, she seeks out moments of significance
4. she’s rather paying attention to the game Solitaire than to the IT class (p.8)
→ solitaire = alone, isolated
→ again, paying attention to what others don't
→ literally involving with what’s alone, while being alone doing so; isolating herself from her surrounding by seeking out what’s isolate; bonding over isolation
→ she also evaluates that playing Solitaire does more for her intelligence than paying attention to the IT lesson (p.8) → being alone appears to be more beneficial to her
5. Michael enters the room and verbally registers the room first (p.8)
6. Tori thinks that he registers her only after he scanned the inanimate parts of the room (p.9)
7. Tori judges Michael’s appearance (p.9)
8. Michael ‘absorbs’ Tori’s face (p.9)
→ not just ‘looking’ or ‘seeing’, he literally takes her in from her perspective
9. ‘his eyes flare up’ + ‘I swear to Got they double in size’
→ most animated way Tori has described something yet
→ (I love the eye flaming up phrase so much!)
10. ‘leaps towards me like a pouncing lion’ (p.9)
→ comparison
→ wildness, strength
→ movement towards her (contrary to the last described encounter in which Becky, her allegedly best friend physically moves away from her)
11. ’ fiercely enough that I stumble backward in fear that he might crush me completely’ (p.9)
→ it is possible that Michael actually moves in such exaggerated manner, but it might also be such a drastic contrast to Tori that she uses such strong wordings to describe him due to not being used that people react so strongly to her
→ the unfamiliarity of Michaels demeanor overwhelms Tori
12. ‘he leans forward’; ‘face only centimeters away from mine’ (p.9)
→ Michael leans into Tori’s presence
13. Tori sees herself in Michael’s glasses
→ she sees herself first when she’s forced to look at him closely
14. ‘He grins violently’ (p.9)
→ I just love that sentence, okay. Michael just has such a strong presence, especially in a place like school that Tori keeps describing as ‘dull’ (p.6). So many contrasts that crystallize characteristics.
15. ‘’Victoria Spring’, he cries’ + big arms thrown in the air movement (p.9)
→ he celebrates that he found her
16. Tori stay quiet and ‘has a headache’ (p.9)
→ contrast to Michael’s reaction; her lack of reaction
→ overwhelm?, confusion?; hating people?
17. Tori finds her picture awful (p.10)
→ insecure about her appearance
18. ‘It’s like I don’t even have a face’ (p.10 )
→ lack of identity, significance?; hidden away
19. ‘Michael steps back a little’ but only to give her back her personal space (p.10)
→ he moves away, but remains as close as possible without irrupting Tori’s comfort unnecessarily
20. Michael’s ‘insane smile’ (p.10)
→ Tori describing/ judging his appearance (she’s so obsessed with his smile, haha)
21. ‘Everything lit up like it’s on fire’; ‘He notices me looking too’; ‘’It’s like it’s pulling you out, isn't it?’’ (p.11)
→ the foreshadowing, hehe
→ he notices her actions/ immersion/ interest and reacts to it by directly talking to her
22. ‘You are definitely Tori Spring, aren’t you’. ‘This should be a question, but he says it like he’s already known for a long time’ (p.12)
→ he does know her from when he showed her around at school last year; Tori doesn't know that they already met yet
→ without knowing, she intuitively interprets his words correctly; he knows she’s Victoria Spring, he recognizes her and has known about her for a long time
23. contrast of interest level regarding the solitaire case/ mystery (p.12)
Tori calling the day ‘pointless’ (p.13)
→ Tori lost interest I the post-it and blog the second Michael joined the moment; she already stated that she finds significant in moments no one but her is involved in and with Micheal now being another person paying attention to the post-it, Tori’s attention isn't the solely presence anymore ergo she looses interest and a feeling of significance
24. Tori feels deeply for Michael’s sudden sadness (p.13)
→ she can’t but care
25. Tori doesn't know what to do (p.13)
→ the post-it task lost significance due to Michael ruining her solidarity, but now Michael she is alone with him and the only one who is paying attention to him, therefore his sudden reaction forces her to go through a sudden shift as well, him bringing a sense of significance
→ Tori’s apathy and confusion collide with the rollercoaster of the situation
26. ‘You don’t say anything you mean’ (p.15)
→ Michael doesn't know Tori yet sees through her
27. Tori describes her laugh as a ‘pathetic sort of expulsion of air’ (p.15)
→ emphasis of her insecurity by choice of words connoting a neutral thing such as a chuckle or laugh
28. ‘Who are you, Victoria Spring?’ (p.15) - ‘I am nothing’ (p.15)
→ we just got an introduction by Tori beyond only her name and now she states she does not know how to answer that question beyond listing her name
→ insecurity, low self-worth
→ also, the fact that she thinks so deeply about how she could possibly answer that question by a stranger, just to realize how she does not feel like being anything/ anyone more worthy than ‘nothing’, instead of not caring and walking away, well, proves that she does care; she listens and thinks and doesn't find an answer that she evaluates as satisfying
29. she doesn't know at on point Michael hands her the post-it before he vanishes;
‘This is probably how it starts’
→ with a moment of significance (her own definition of significance in moments of seemingly being the only one paying attention and taking action)
→ with being seen and looked at and talked with (encounter with Michael)
→ by taking action as one’s own decision (following post-it)
→ by being recognizes (by Micheal)
→ by an unfamiliar encounter in an otherwise familiar and dull place
→ by being confronted with oneself (seeing herself in his glasses; being asked who she is)
Analepsis
Tori became form leader by getting volunteered ‘mostly because no one else wanted to do so’ (p.9f)
→ taking action when others don’t
2. Tori’s hair cut story (p.14f)
→ her inner tumult and its exterior display
21 notes
·
View notes