I Finally Finished '"The Quincunx"
Sunday, March 30th, 2003 01:36![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittiwake... but I am still confused having read all 1100+ pages plus the author's afterword.
Skip the spoilers if you haven't read the book, as my ramblings about possible solutions to the mystery will make no sense to you anyway. But if you have read the book, please tell me who you think John's father was.
As you read this book, you realise that there are no coincidences. Almost everyone John meets is linked to the mysterious conspiracies surrounding him, but there is always a logical link from one acquaintance to the next.
In the afterword Charles Palliser mentions the Swedish translator's problem with the last sentence, due to Swedish having separate words for maternal (morfar) and paternal (farfar) grandfather. Next time I'm in Sweden I'll have to have a look in a bookshop and just read the last sentence to see which word he decided to use.
At the beginning of the book, I suspected that John's mother's father was also (incestuously) John's father, due to her embarrassment and confusion every time there was a verbal father/grandfather confusion and when people commented on how much John looked like him. However, later on I changed my mind and anyway that would not fit in with the final sentence at all.
Lydia's lover was killed by Jeoffrey Escreet, so according to the final sentence of the story, he has to be John's grandfather. This would rule out Peter Clothier as John's father. He and John's mother Mary were only married for about a day before he was arrested and committed to the asylum, and from Mary's account there didn't seem to have been time for them to consummate the marriage. However there is always the possibility that they didn't wait until they were married and she wouldn't actually have mentioned the consummation in a letter to her son anyway. So it's possible that John's suspicions are entirely unfounded and that his father is in fact his mother's husband, Peter Clothier. In that case John is wrong about Jeoffrey Escreet being his grandfather and the final sentence of the novel is false.
If JE is John's morfar, then he must be Mary's real father (which is possible because her supposed father John, had lived in JE's house since before he was married and Mary was brought up there). As JE was related to Mary's supposed father there could still have been a ressemblance between John Jr & John Sr, or it could have been that the people who made the remarks knew that JE was Mary's real father and were being catty, which would explain why Mary blushed.
On the other hand, if JE is John's farfar, then John's father could either be John Sr. (my first suspicion), or Martin Fortisquence. JE invited them to live with him when they finished university, and was very fond of them both. John Sr. returned his love but Martin never did, which could possibly be because he knew or at least suspected that JE was his father and resented him for this.
I think (but I could be wrong about this) that it said at some point that John Sr. and Martin looked like each other, which could only be explained if it was Martin who was JE's son, as otherwise he would not be related to John Sr. Oh bother - it's just occurred to me that maybe they are both JE's sons. Both their mothers would have known JE, so it is possible.
If Martin is John's father it would explain Jemima F's hostility to Mary, which seemed too extreme to be explained by being jealous of Mary's wealth when they were children. This is another possible explanation for her catty remarks about who John took after in looks. It would explain why Martin supported Mary financially and protected her and John from their enemies, but I'm surprised that he would have left his son nothing in his will, unless that was the price he paid to placate his wife. It also fits in with Mr Advowson's information about John's baptism.
The people who could have told John the truth are frankly unhelpful. John remembered that Mary had written "I could not bear to think that the father of my child had killed my Papa", but that is no help at all, since Jeoffrey Escreet, Peter Clothier & Martin Fortisquence were all in the house on the night of the murder.
Jemima told John "I never believed that the murderer was your father", which is too obscure by half, as I can't tell who she thinks the father was or who she thinks the murderer was, or even whether she knows the identity of either for certain or is just guessing. However, I can't understand why John does not press her about this, as she is very possibly the only person alive who may be able to answer his questions.
Tentative conclusions
I am leaning towards Jeoffrey Escreet being John's farfar and Martin Fortisquence being his father, but John misinterpreted so many clues throughout the book, that my secondary theory is that Peter Clothier is his father.
Sometime very soon I am going to have to read the whole book again and look out for more clues. In such a long book (the story ends on page 1191), it's really hard to flick through and find the bits I want to check again.
A loose end.
What happened to Lydia's baby? Did it die as she was told, or did I miss a clue and it was adopted like JE was a generation earlier? Oh, I just thought, in the afterword it says that there are clues to suggest that the Digweeds are also related to John, so maybe there's a link there, as I didn't pick up on that at all.
Skip the spoilers if you haven't read the book, as my ramblings about possible solutions to the mystery will make no sense to you anyway. But if you have read the book, please tell me who you think John's father was.
As you read this book, you realise that there are no coincidences. Almost everyone John meets is linked to the mysterious conspiracies surrounding him, but there is always a logical link from one acquaintance to the next.
In the afterword Charles Palliser mentions the Swedish translator's problem with the last sentence, due to Swedish having separate words for maternal (morfar) and paternal (farfar) grandfather. Next time I'm in Sweden I'll have to have a look in a bookshop and just read the last sentence to see which word he decided to use.
At the beginning of the book, I suspected that John's mother's father was also (incestuously) John's father, due to her embarrassment and confusion every time there was a verbal father/grandfather confusion and when people commented on how much John looked like him. However, later on I changed my mind and anyway that would not fit in with the final sentence at all.
Lydia's lover was killed by Jeoffrey Escreet, so according to the final sentence of the story, he has to be John's grandfather. This would rule out Peter Clothier as John's father. He and John's mother Mary were only married for about a day before he was arrested and committed to the asylum, and from Mary's account there didn't seem to have been time for them to consummate the marriage. However there is always the possibility that they didn't wait until they were married and she wouldn't actually have mentioned the consummation in a letter to her son anyway. So it's possible that John's suspicions are entirely unfounded and that his father is in fact his mother's husband, Peter Clothier. In that case John is wrong about Jeoffrey Escreet being his grandfather and the final sentence of the novel is false.
If JE is John's morfar, then he must be Mary's real father (which is possible because her supposed father John, had lived in JE's house since before he was married and Mary was brought up there). As JE was related to Mary's supposed father there could still have been a ressemblance between John Jr & John Sr, or it could have been that the people who made the remarks knew that JE was Mary's real father and were being catty, which would explain why Mary blushed.
On the other hand, if JE is John's farfar, then John's father could either be John Sr. (my first suspicion), or Martin Fortisquence. JE invited them to live with him when they finished university, and was very fond of them both. John Sr. returned his love but Martin never did, which could possibly be because he knew or at least suspected that JE was his father and resented him for this.
I think (but I could be wrong about this) that it said at some point that John Sr. and Martin looked like each other, which could only be explained if it was Martin who was JE's son, as otherwise he would not be related to John Sr. Oh bother - it's just occurred to me that maybe they are both JE's sons. Both their mothers would have known JE, so it is possible.
If Martin is John's father it would explain Jemima F's hostility to Mary, which seemed too extreme to be explained by being jealous of Mary's wealth when they were children. This is another possible explanation for her catty remarks about who John took after in looks. It would explain why Martin supported Mary financially and protected her and John from their enemies, but I'm surprised that he would have left his son nothing in his will, unless that was the price he paid to placate his wife. It also fits in with Mr Advowson's information about John's baptism.
The people who could have told John the truth are frankly unhelpful. John remembered that Mary had written "I could not bear to think that the father of my child had killed my Papa", but that is no help at all, since Jeoffrey Escreet, Peter Clothier & Martin Fortisquence were all in the house on the night of the murder.
Jemima told John "I never believed that the murderer was your father", which is too obscure by half, as I can't tell who she thinks the father was or who she thinks the murderer was, or even whether she knows the identity of either for certain or is just guessing. However, I can't understand why John does not press her about this, as she is very possibly the only person alive who may be able to answer his questions.
Tentative conclusions
I am leaning towards Jeoffrey Escreet being John's farfar and Martin Fortisquence being his father, but John misinterpreted so many clues throughout the book, that my secondary theory is that Peter Clothier is his father.
Sometime very soon I am going to have to read the whole book again and look out for more clues. In such a long book (the story ends on page 1191), it's really hard to flick through and find the bits I want to check again.
A loose end.
What happened to Lydia's baby? Did it die as she was told, or did I miss a clue and it was adopted like JE was a generation earlier? Oh, I just thought, in the afterword it says that there are clues to suggest that the Digweeds are also related to John, so maybe there's a link there, as I didn't pick up on that at all.
