Enduring love: Chapter 12
Chapter 12 allows McEwan to move along the plot as he is able to describe in retrospect Joes feelings as he is driving. The chapter begins with Joe reflecting upon his ‘sense of failure’. Joe reflects upon the fact that he no longer finds comfort in work nor what he did before. He states ‘twenty years ago I might have hired a professional listener, but... I had lost faith in the talking cure’. This provides an immense insight into Joe as a character as he admits he would have previously been to a ‘professional listener’ which can readily only be interpreted as a euphemism for a psychologist. Clearly, Joe has previously had issues which he has had to seek professional help with. Another insight into his character is shown as he is ‘close to doubling the speed limit’ which in this case, allows McEwan to create the message that Joe is in a distressed mood creating a transition from a rational scientist to an unstable man.
We see a mind filled with anxiety and paranoia as Joe begins to relive the morning in retrospect. McEwan divulges into Joe and Clarissa’s relationship where cracks seem evident. Joe speaking in first person says ‘she seemed to agree’, ‘seemed because she was not quite whole-hearted’. The repetition of ‘seemed’ emphasises this uncertainty and their disconnected relationship. Joe is fast to make assumptions without any indication from Clarissa. Joe harbours doubt and Clarissa returns this doubt as she makes a suspicious statement against Joe that ‘His [Parrys] writing’s rather like yours.’ And when Joe attempts to build his argument, Clarissa responses with a less than enthusiastic response: ‘Yes’. The one worded answer allows us to understand perhaps Clarissa doesn’t fully believe Joe and still harbours some suspicion against the whole Parry situation. What further highlights the gap in their relationship is the abrupt exist of Clarissa. After their embrace in the kitchen saying ‘loving things’ for ‘a whole minute’, Clarissa ‘broke’ away and ‘snatched’ her coat. McEwan makes use of strong imagery to allow a reader to imagine this abrupt exit. The blunt ‘b’ sound in ‘broke’ emphasises this as well as being symbolic in the way their relationship currently on the verge of breaking as they harbour doubts and aren’t confiding in each other to relieve each other’s conspiracies. The fact she additionally, ‘snatched’ the coat in prompt action to leave Joe’s company suggests they both find their current situations easier to deal with alone rather than fuelling each other’s negative thoughts when they are together.
