Mrs. Logan introduces an alternative perspective on the accident through what she says about her husband’s character and her theory that ‘he was showing off to a girl’. This perceptive creates an increase in plot intensity and creates sympathy for Mrs. Logan. The effect of the accident on Mrs. Logan is contrasted with the effect on Joe who is experiencing guilt at his involvement, “I was keeping a rendezvous with real grief, and I was confused”. Mrs. Logan also tells about the neglect of her story, by the police and others not believing her, “We knows it’s your husband, the father of your children, but we’re in charge and please don’t get in the way” and “it’s not convenient to answer my questions, because they don’t fit the story”. This could be interpreted as a link between Mrs. Logan and Joe as they are both have stories (Joe about Jed and Mrs. Logan about her husband) and nobody believes them. This also foreshadows later on in the novel when the police tell Joe his story doesn’t fit about Parry in the restaurant. This could be the reason why Joe help’s Mrs. Logan because he can relate to her situation. Mrs. Logan’s language is also negative, “tormented”, “sourness”, “exhausted”. She also uses sarcasm, “her sarcasm was too theatrical…” all creating the grieving atmosphere and creating tension. McEwan builds up the pressure before revealing Mrs. Logan’s perspective on the accident, by using the same style of techniques throughout the book; sentence structures, negative imagery and negative symbols. This build up of tension is an example of Ian McEwan writers craft throughout the entire novel.
Through contact with Mrs. Logan, Joe is able to understand more about himself and his own situation with Clarissa. Her loss represents Joe and Clarissa’s love, ‘the slow agony of its destruction’ and makes Joe see the need to ‘save’ his love. It is ironic that despite this realisation, he is unable to act upon it. This contributes to character development of Joe. Mrs. Logan is therefore linked with the important theme of love and loss. Mrs. Logan is also linked with Clarissa in Joe’s mine. ‘Jean Logan, with whom Clarissa now shared a neural address, a category in my mind of women who believe themselves to be wronged and expected something from me’ and “The skin between her nose and her thin upper lip was raw” (linked to his description of Clarissa, “There was a tenderness over the bridge of her nose”) He has to face up to his responsibility towards them and Joe reluctantly fulfils his promise to Mrs. Logan and decides to mend things with Clarissa, “It was urgent that I returned to London and save our love”. The way in which Joe is presented with the idea of ‘losing Clarissa’ through Mrs. Logan shows her importance in the way she affects Joe.
Joe’s contact with Jean and the children has some restorative power. Joe and Clarissa are both ‘very good with children’ and Joe enjoys talking to them about the river at the end of the novel. This can be linked with his ability to explain science, and indicates he has accepted his profession in writing about science rather than as an instigator of scientific discovery. Also, there is a link between Mr. Logan and Joe by Mrs. Logan’s description of him, “He was always weighing up the possibilities of a change in weather, or loose rock or hazards that no one else could think about” and “He never took unnecessary risks”, these emphasised Joes characteristics through there similarities. She follows by saying, “There was another side to John, you see. He always wanted to be the best, but he was no longer the all-round athlete he once was. He was forty-two. It hurt. He couldn’t accept it”, this could also link with Joe’s previous rejection about his career, also allowing him to come to terms with accepting his current profession. Due to Joes acceptance of his profession linked to this chapter shows the importance of Mrs. Logan.
Joe’s contact with the children also allows him to progress in his analysis of Jed when he remembers De Clerambault’s syndrome “Her forlorn and embittered love was identified as a syndrome by the French psychiatrist who treated her, and who gave his name to her morbid passion. De Clerambault”. Once again McEwan uses sentence structure to create tension before the solution is resolved; this increases intensity and interest for the reader. This shows the importance of the sub-plot in revealing this to Joe.
During the picnic at the end of the novel, Mrs. Logan discovers the truth about the scarf as a result of the meeting, which is arranged by Joe, and consequently the sub-plot is resolved. Mrs. Logan’s obsession is over but she is unable to achieve forgiveness- another key issue in the novel. Structurally the sub-plot is presented to create relief for the reader from the main plot. It also increases the plots intensity and creates tension by the style of language and structure, as the reader has to wait to find out ‘what happens next’ in the main plot. Mrs. Logan is vital in the novel as she reveals to Joe and the reader about the relationship failure with Clarissa, the solution behind Jed, the acceptance of his profession and also by permitting Joes character development increase. It is a pivotal point in the novel where Joe discovers the cause of his problems, this regains interest to the reader as everything makes sense the plot increases. The use of language style creating tension also demonstrates the importance of Mrs. Logan in the novel and the structural links also create importance as they foreshadow future events in the novel.
