Pieces of the Puzzle

Day three of reading was revelatory. But even as I write this, I question it. A word like "revelatory" probably overstates it. But certainly pieces of the puzzle are beginning to fall into place, and the story is becoming easier to follow, or at least to catalog and interpret (it's still difficult to determine a discernible plot line).

First of all, I'm fairly comfortable saying that I've got the point-of-view issue figured out. Pages on which X is not present read pretty much straight third person, albeit it often using poetically vague language. Pages where X is present, so far at least, are narrated very close to the character in the scene who is not X. An image may help explain what I mean:

In the early days of theatre, when paper was hard to make and thus expensive to buy, an actor would not receive a copy of an entire script, but would instead get only one roll of paper on which his own lines were written. These might have actually been cut out a copy of the script so that one script might provide the entire cast their rolls. This is, in fact, where the term "role" (fr.) comes from. It is as if this is what we are reading whenever X is present. We get the stage directions (narrative) and lines (dialogue) of one character. But it is always the role of X's co-star, and never of X himself. Thus, X's actions and speeches are only implied. We fill in the gaps.

Plot Revelations:

This reading included several important pieces of plot information. Motorcycle cops run traffic and, in lecturing absent minded drivers, allow real criminals to escape. A Salvation Army bell ringer stands outside a club where someone is winning (X?). He dumps all his winnings into the pot. Marianne is at Francine's, cleaning up after her hemorrhages as she dies. Marianne is said to be a faithful friend of Francine because Francine played a part in her marriage. The text mentions that Marianne is "in the process of giving herself last rites." Dagmar brushes off an insolent flirting man (X, no doubt). So. we learn these things:

1) Someone feels guilty.
2) Someone is running.
3) Marianne feels her marriage is doomed, and so is she.
4) X is insolent in his approach of Dagmar.

And so the story begins to take shape.