Today, the students of Ms. Serensky's A.P. English class absolutely tore me to part for failing to do anything when I witnessed an altercation between a man and a woman. One student, Carolyn Weaver, went so far as to say that I must "take some of the blame for the rape and murder of the girl," and many other students echoed this sentiment. Of course, I must wholeheartedly disagree with these ludicrous accusations. I was, after all, merely taking a relaxing walk through the countryside when I heard a man and a woman "arguing - a marital row, most likely" (92-93). And by all appearances, that's precisely what it was. Although at one point "the man took a step toward her and seized her by the elbow," I thought little of it - from what I had seen, this was a simple domestic dispute (93). I had absolutely no business getting involved in this altercation, as I knew neither the parties involved nor the background surrounding their fight. If I had attempted to step in, "they might both turn on [me] for presuming to interfere" (94). Unfortunately, I had seen nothing that suggested the gravity of the outcome of this dispute. How was I to know that this man was a rapist and murderer? Should I have thrust myself into an apparent marital dispute and asked if the man was planning to rape and subsequently murder this innocent woman? Apparently, I should assume that every man that yells at a woman is a murderer. The cruel, heartless students seemed to be suggesting this. I will cry myself to sleep tonight.
Sincerely,
Clive
Alex, this is unbelievably accurate as I recall Carolyn's quote. You captured the sentiments of the class perfectly during the discussion of Clive's decision to focus on his work over the well-being of a fellow human being. Additionally, I think that the voice of Clive is quite good because he would try to defend himself and stand up for his decision a little bit before giving in and calling for sympathy by stating that he will cry himself to sleep tonight. Although I loved this writing very much, I think you also should have added something about Clive's music. In the novel Clive was so wrapped up in his music because he was a self-proclaimed musical genius.
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