The opening sentence of this chapter reveals the birth of David’s younger sister, Petra. Petra’s birth came as a genuine surprise to David, telling the reader that David is often caught up in his own world and doesn’t pay much attention to the lives of the other people around him.
The Inspector is called in to examine the baby for any deviations, and if she was free of deviations he would grant her the normalcy certificate. The Inspector delayed his visit to inspect Petra until mid-afternoon. Upon arriving at the Strorms, he took his time about granting the certificate. The Inspector did so to anger and annoy Joseph for being so implacable about deviations. Finally, the Inspector granted Petra a certificate.
Two or three days after the birth of Petra, Emily’s sister Harriet came to visit her. Harriet had brought her newborn baby girl with her to visit Emily. At first Emily is delighted to see her sister and niece, but is then disgusted at the sight of the baby as she had a slight blemish of the body. Harriet had come to ask Emily if she would trade babies with her for a few days so Harriet could obtain her baby’s normalcy certificate. Emily is disgusted that her sister would even suggest such an idea. Harriet tells her that this is her third deviational baby and that her husband, Henry, now has the grounds to turn her out, as the law permits.
Joseph comes into the room and it is explained by Emily why Harriet is there. He gives Harriet a lecture and tells her to pray. Harriet responds with self-righteousness:
’I shall pray… I shall pray to God to send charity into this hideous world…that the hearts of the self-righteous may be broken…”
She then turns to leave and as she pulls away in her carriage, the determined look on her face would leave an imprint in David’s mind forever. After Harriet leaves, Emily begins to cry because she realizes that if Petra had been deviational, Joseph might have turned her out as well; she had already given birth to two deviational babies.
A few days later Harriet would be found drowned in a river, her baby missing. This event only fuels David doubts about Waknuk’s philosophy and makes his fear of being caught more real.
Chapter 8 - "A Rusted Mirror – Axel Has His Doubts"
This page hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page
