Michael dreams of Lillie in The Space Between Section 21. However, it ends with a shocking turn of events.
This chapter is one of those that reminds us not to look at a situation from a 21st century viewpoint. There are some shocking moments, after all, but there are elements of complaints about this chapter that are linked to the way we think of the world now. Remember the time period and the city in Europe.
Breaking down The Space Between Section 21
The section begins with Michael getting home. He has walked the city to the point of exhaustion, and he’s finally able to fall asleep in his bed without the help of alcohol. I love that he has figured out that drinking isn’t the way to cope, and he needs to find another option while he grieves.
His wife and her dog come to him in his dreams. There’s a familiarity and a strangeness to Lillie in this dream, and it becomes a little uncomfortable for him. However, he stays in the dream as there is a sexual moment, but he finds himself immobilized. As he reaches the peak, he wakes up to find Leonie in the bed with him. The dog, who used to be Lillie’s, is also in the room.
It turns out that Leonie snuck into his bed and, what we would say today, sexually assaulted him. However, it’s not defined as that at the time. It’s very wrong, even for the time, but it’s not viewed in the same way as it would now. Leonie shares that she can’t stop thinking about Michael and that she wants to be with him.
I know a lot of people would be confused by this. Why would she want her sister’s husband? This was a normal thing for the time when there was a loss in the family. It’s also possible that Leonie just sees Michael as a wealthy man, and that she wants that. But there were man parents who would encourage their daughters to go after their late sister’s widow.
Back to this story, Michael tells Leonie that they can’t be together. They will talk in the morning, and then Michael leaves. He needs to clear his head.
Could this chapter be used in a TV adaptation?
With not reading this short story in full before, I’m not sure if this section leads to anything between Leonie and Michael. If it does, then the section would need to be used. After all, we’d need to see how something happens between them.
If it doesn’t, then there may not be the need for it. We’ve seen how people react to 18th-century situations with a 21st-century mindset. Including this if it doesn’t lead to anything would just open a can of worms that would take away from the overall story. Is it worth it? While we can’t escape that something like this happened, I just think battles need to be picked, and this one isn’t worth it.
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