Written On The Body

The narrator declares love for Louise; Louise replies that she doesn’t want to “be another scalp on your pole” (53) and speculates that the narrator’s declaration of love is a way of gaining control. Having heard stories of all the narrator’s previous sexual escapades, Louise wants the “script,” and the past, to be forgotten.

Aware that the relationship with Jacqueline must end, the narrator waits for her to exit the zoo. Jacqueline asks, “Is this about Louise?” (56), but the narrator will only admit that “things had changed” (57). When the narrator attempts to present the state of their relationship and its outcome as a “joint decision,” Jacqueline retorts by saying that this means they will discuss it and “you’ll do what you want anyway” (58). Jacqueline walks away, and the narrator diverges into a reminiscence of an old girlfriend, Catherine, and their habit of peering into the living room windows of strangers in the evening, watching the inertia that sets into most lives after 7:00 p.m. The narrator notes the power of memory to temporarily abate the starkness of reality.

Jacqueline locks the narrator out of their flat, resulting in another night spent at Louise’s house, during which Louise insists upon separate bedrooms, provides a hot bath, and behaves maternally.