Discussion Questions for RPS Chap XI- XVI

1. In Chapter XI, we get to witness Lassiter, Jane and Fay playing at house. Jane talks about how much Fay has changed Lassiter's demeanor, in ways she could not (despite her attempts through underhanded "coquetry"). Fay seems to have a closer access to Lassiter's body and emotions in ways Jane has failed. On p. 103 Jane witnesses Fay playfully grabbing at Lassiter's guns. Only a couple pages later we see Jane enact a similar "playfulness":

“Jane slipped her hands down to the swinging gun-sheaths and when she had locked her fingers around the huge, cold handles of the guns, she trembled as with a chilling ripple all over her body” (105)

Certainly this scene is laden with "hit you over the head" sexual innuendo. Lassiter pushes her away and gives her a look of "terrible realization".  What is the purpose of juxtaposing Fay and Jane doing the same thing with such differing results? Why is Jane's gesture so "terrible" to Lassiter?

2. In Chapter XII we return to Surprise Valley with Bess and venters and learn that this is an ancient site where a civilization that Venter's calls "Cliff dwellers". (130) What is the significance of this narrative history in the story of Bess and Bern? Are these primitive people supposed to serve as a model for Bess and Venters? And if so, what does it tell them?

3. We've spoken briefly in class about the heavy-handed (ha) focus on physical and metaphorical "hands" in the story. In chapter XVI Lassiter gives a doozy of a speech connecting everyone's hands to an interpretive color:

“There’s that unseen hand of power, and Tull’s black hand, an’ my red one, an’ your indifferent one, an’ the girl’s little brown helpless one. An’ Venters, there’s one that’s all-wise an’ all wonderful. That’s the hand guidin’ Jane’s game of life” (162)

What do each of the colors mean? And what is the all-wise and wonderful hand guiding Jane if it's not her religion?