Joanie realizes that she’s not needed all that much in The Space Between Section 13. However, she soon remembers how she is supposed to feel.
I do think Joan puts a lot of high expectations on herself. She’s got to only be in her early 20s at the most, but I can’t remember if we ever really get an age. However, it’s an age where we get selfish thoughts, but Joan is so focused on what she is setting herself out to do that she believes she’s wrong for it.
Breaking down The Space Between Section 12
The section starts with Joan in Michael’s house. Everyone else is there, and Joan realizes that she doesn’t need to comfort Michael in the way that she thought she would. Other people are there to do it for her, and this give Joan time to think about Pepin. She is curious about the warning that the voices gave her.
Her thoughts on Pepin don’t stay for too long. She starts to think about the voices, and realizes that if they don’t stop at the convent, she is a good place for them. The people there will listen to her and not send her to the madhouse. This gives her a sense of reprieve from them.
Later than night, Joan enjoys a hot bath and the feeling of Michael’s maids massaging her scalp while washing her hair. After this, she chides herself for the sinfulness of the gluttony in the water. She realizes that she hasn’t once thought about the man who took his own life. Nor has she thought about Lillie and her unborn baby. She cries on the hard floor as she realizes just how selfish she has been.
My heart goes out to Joan in this chapter. She is putting the weight of the world on her shoulders. I know that she is heading to a convent, but that doesn’t mean she can’t take a moment to enjoy simple things in life. Does her God really expect her not to enjoy something? Is it gluttony? I guess I’ve never considered becoming a nun, so I don’t know.
Could this chapter be used in a TV series adaptation?
If The Space Between is ever adapted, I have to admit that I don’t think this would be used. Sure, it shows us how devoted Joan is to becoming a nun, but I don’t think that it’s needed in the grand scale of things. There is so much more important things going on in the story.
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