- Jan 19, 2021
- 165
- 379
After finishing chapter 8 my opinions of several characters have changed - and not necessarily for the better. Officers Paul and Bill seemed to delight in playing the roles of good cop/bad cop, but its now looking like they're actually bad cop/worse cop. Assuming they're not acting out a role for Parker, misogyny seems to be their primary goal, with the intent of setting him on the same path in future.
I love Melissa. There's nothing she wouldn't do to protect her children and the officers know that, but it also limits how far they can push her each time, or they'll lose their leverage over her. They could order her to teach all her classes in the nude and she'd obey, but she'd be unemployed by the end of the day - because there's no way her students could keep that a secret. An unemployed housewife under a major scandal offers them far fewer opportunities for humiliation, hence the lost leverage. There's always her affair with Tom...
If their misogyny is genuine, they'll know the only way they can utterly break Melissa is to turn Parker against her and have him join her abusers. That would explain their current actions and previous chapters have made it clear that Parker can't out think them, or set a trap they won't easily see through. There's obvious inconsistencies in the story they're trying to sell him about Melissa, but he's currently too deep in shock to examine them. Double that if they start putting pressure on Becky.
Carl may yet turn out to be the hero/MC of this story, unlikely as it may seem! He's an honest pervert, loyal to his friends and surprisingly insightful when it counts. If Parker's smart enough to confide in him, Carl should be able to set him straight. Whether they can come up with a way to trick the officers into believing they've succeeded is another matter...
Just my 2c as a new reader.
I love Melissa. There's nothing she wouldn't do to protect her children and the officers know that, but it also limits how far they can push her each time, or they'll lose their leverage over her. They could order her to teach all her classes in the nude and she'd obey, but she'd be unemployed by the end of the day - because there's no way her students could keep that a secret. An unemployed housewife under a major scandal offers them far fewer opportunities for humiliation, hence the lost leverage. There's always her affair with Tom...
If their misogyny is genuine, they'll know the only way they can utterly break Melissa is to turn Parker against her and have him join her abusers. That would explain their current actions and previous chapters have made it clear that Parker can't out think them, or set a trap they won't easily see through. There's obvious inconsistencies in the story they're trying to sell him about Melissa, but he's currently too deep in shock to examine them. Double that if they start putting pressure on Becky.
Carl may yet turn out to be the hero/MC of this story, unlikely as it may seem! He's an honest pervert, loyal to his friends and surprisingly insightful when it counts. If Parker's smart enough to confide in him, Carl should be able to set him straight. Whether they can come up with a way to trick the officers into believing they've succeeded is another matter...
Just my 2c as a new reader.
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