The developing relationships between Carlene and Kiki, as well as Zora and Claire are interesting. While the relationships between supposed enemies improve, the situation between Howard and Kiki only seems to worsen. I feel obliged to sympathise for Kiki, given the fact that Howard refuses to give her an explanation to the affair. She has every right to be mad at him, and her ugly comments concerning the affair are fuelled by her rage towards his deception. Their heated confrontation reveals the deep love that Kiki had for Howard, and has left her somewhat mentally fragmented. Howard acts very insensitively towards Kiki, especially when he gives the comment “I married a slim black woman” and admits that physicality was a factor that contributed towards the affair. I experienced a loss of respect towards Howard for his shallowness and willingness to further cripple Kiki’s already shaky state of mind.
The inability of Howard and Kiki to make amends to their broken marriage has harsh consequences on the three children. When Zora, Jerome and Levi all meet coincidentally in Boston, there is sympathy towards Levi for being the one who has to live under the roof in the midst of war. I am impressed by their maturity towards the subject, and also their ability to analyse the situation of Howard and Kiki and see the faults in their marriage.
When Zora follows Claire outside to smoke it is clear that there are alternative motives to her decision. The novel suggests that perhaps Zora seeks affirmation that relations between herself and Claire are not hostile in wake of the actions of her father. The casualness of their conversation comes as a surprise to me, as I would have expected Zora to express more anger towards Claire for ruining the marriage between her parents. She seems to brush off the affair and treat is more lightly than it should be. Whether or not Zora actually intends to truly befriend Claire puzzles me, but it seems that her passion for literature and the academics overwhelms her personal troubles. Claire’s invitation to get Zora to give a speech at the university also makes me ponder whether there are underlying motives to her decision. Claire makes it clear earlier on that she does not see potential in Zora, so it would seem an unfitting choice for such an important event. Perhaps she feels obligated to make amends for the affair. Given the talk with her boss earlier concerning her refusal to offer Zora a place in her class, she knows her power as a teacher are also at stake.
I feel insecure about the Carl and Zora relationship. It is shocking to know that Carl once slept with his geography teacher, and worse still that he continues to flirt with his teachers, Claire Malcolm included. Claire’s flirtation with Carl is described as being “just the right amount of flirting”. I found this statement disturbing, as how can student teacher relationships within class especially ever be justified? Zora’s affection for Carl will hurt her, and she is too naïve to even notice the mutual flirtation between Carl and Claire.
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