EFFECTS OF MODERNISM IN IN A
LONELY PLACE
POST WAR DISPLACEMENT
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ALCOHOL USED AS AN ESCAPE Laurel 'liquor is such a nice substitute for facing life.'
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RISE OF NEW WOMAN
RISE IN EDUCATED WOMEN
FEMALES WHO UNCOVER DIX'S SECRET- ASSUMING MASCULINE ROLE OF DETECTIVE
'Sylvia - 'From the beginning I knew there was something wrong. Something terribly wrong. (184)
'Laurel came to Brub. Because she was afraid. Afraid of the way you looked at her. (184)
DECREASING MASCULINITY LEADING TO MYSGONY
HATRED OF WOMEN WHO APPEAR AS A THREAT referencing Sylvia, 'he didn't like her either with her damn prying mind. Her bitching, high-toned mind.'
'his hatred for Laurel throttled his brain.' (143)
Dix to Sylvia- 'You were jealous. Because you wanted all of Brub. You didn't even want a friend to have a part of him' (184)
TECHNOLOGY
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**DIX ANGERED BY NOISE OF RAZOR 'hating the buzz of the razor' (128)
MONEY AND CONSUMERISM
MEL TERRIS' MURDER AS A MECHANISM FOR MONEY AND WOMEN 'Without Mel, there would have been no Laurel.' (96)* ' :
DIX OBBESSED WITH MONEY- BELIEVING LAUREL'S PREVIOUS PARTNER MUST HAVE HAD MONEY 'too
old, too ugly to get without paying for it. Paying plenty. A guy with nothing on his side but money.' (52)
'no-one was paying her rent. She was on her own; the ex, the rich one, must have settled up.'
BELIEVING LAUREL TO BE OUT WITH ANOTHER WEALTHY MAN
'she was with another man. Someone with money to spend on her, big money. (93)
DIX DEPENDENT ON HIS UNCLE'S MONEY TO LIVE HIS DESIRED HOLYWOOD LIFESTYLE** 'two hundred and fifty dollars...he crumpled the letter into a tight angry ball...he knew too well the pious platitudes about work and
pay'
'he couldn't go to work...the easiest way to get money was through those who had money' (98)
'the Savoy...this was the kind of place in which to dine... this is the way he was going to live someday.' (158)
LAURELS HATRED OF SOCIAL CLUBS CONNECTED TO THE UPPER CLASSES* 'because I don't like stinking rich bastards and their stinking rich clubs' (110)*
PREVIOUS HOMOSOCIAL RELATIONS DURING WAR SHIFT
BRUB HAS MOVED FORWARD WITH HIS LIFE IN COMPARISON TO DIX
Brub is married 'she was mistress of the house...he knew she was Brub's wife' (7)
''Not a policeman now, darling, a detective' (10)*
DIX CANNOT ACHIEVE A PROGRESSED LIFE AFTER WAR
referencing Laurel, Dix states 'if she had come back to him he would not be shut out, an outcast in this strange cold world.' (143) text
MASCULINE RIVALRY PERPETUATED ON DIX'S PART 'the game was growing better. To walk into the police station, to be the guest of homicide for lunch.' (60) ' they were babies in toyland' (76)
DIX FINDS MASCULINITY THROUGH THE PSYCOLOGICAL ABUSE OF BRUB concerning the 'revelation of Brucie's murder 'he could talk alright now; they didn't know anything he was thinking.' (103)
FOCUS ON LIGHTING- NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL - 'he was thinking about the artificial light in the artifical patio'
ANNOYANCE OF MODERNISED HOUSE HOLD ITEMS ADDS TO HIS ANGER
'it wasn't often it hit him hard. It was the balmy night and the early dusk and the look of lamps through opened windows and the sound of music from radios in the lighted rooms (45)
HUGHES HIGHLIGHTS THE STEREOTYPICAL NEW WOMAN
ENGAGING IN MANLY ACTIVITIES 'she put the cigarette in her mouth' (49)
OVERTLY SEXUALISED APPEARANCE' 'she was bold as her rust-red mouth and her slanted eyes, sharp as her painted tapering nails' (49)
LAUREL'S HATRED OF THIS NEW WORLD OF MATERIALISM '
Rich men. And women. They believe the Earth was created for them. They don't have to think or feel- all they have to do is buy it.' (58)
PLANNING/ OBESSIVE BEHAVIOUR REPLICATING PREVIOUS WAR MENTALITY 'he was beginning to be upset. If she intended to come home this evening, she could have
told him' (79)
'irritation gnatted him again; she'd stayed out until- after nine o'clock now by the clock.' (83)
'she'd return any minute now... she'd come in pretty soon now.' (138)
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NOT SUBMISSIVE WHEN PHYSICALLY CONFRONTED BY DIX 'if you don't take your hands off me, you won't be any good to any woman anymore' (89)
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DIXS VICTIMS ALL WORKING WOMEN 'she must be coming from work' (2)
ANGERED BY THE IDEA OF WOMEN RECIEVING MORE MONEY
referencing the war, 'you were all equal in pay' (96)
'she was his women; she belonged to him' (111)
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INCAPABLE OF REMOVING HIMSELF FROM WAR -FOG MOTIF- MIRRORING OF SKY DURING FLYING 'he was too foggy now to knock her awake and demand explanation' (137) 'no more than a figure in the fog' (2)
NOSTALGIA OF BETTER TIMES DURING WAR* 'he was breathing as a man could breathe when he was lifted into the vastness of the sky, when he knew himself to be a unit of power, complete in himself, powerful in himself.' (118)* 'the war years were he first happy years he'd ever known' (96) 'you were the best God-damned pilot in the company with promotions coming fast (96)
TRIGGERED BY LOUD NOISES- AKIN TO WAR BOMBS ETC.
IRRITATED BY NOISE OF BAR* 'noisy sons of bitches up front at the bar' (4)*
IRRITATED BY NOISE OF WATER ' he showered, hating the sound of the rushing water' (128)
IRRITATED BY KETTLE BOILING* 'the coffee was beginning to bubble. It was a small sound, a bubble forming, breaking, a small annoying sound.' (124)*
IRRITATED BY BUS NOISE* A sudden bus splattered his peace with its ugly sound and smell and light*
REPLICATING AERIAL TACTICS
DIX'S MOVEMENTS BEFORE MURDERS FOLLOWS THAT OF A PILOT MENTALITY 'He could have caught up with her at ease but he didn't. It was too soon. Better to hold back until he had passed the humped midsection of the walk, then close in. (2)
DIXS STRANGULATION METHODS ARE AKIN TO METHODS USED DURING WARFARE
'he had pretended his hand was a plane swooping through the fog' (142)
STRUGGLES TO SLEEP
HUGHES SUGGESTS DIX SUFFERS FROM INSOMNIA RELATED SYMPTOMS SURFACING FROM THE WAR* 'Take some dope to sleep. Unless he could sleep the sleep of exhaustion'*
he wasn't rested, he was heavy, tired.' (106)
DIX HAS A FEAR OF THE VULNERABILTIES ATTACHED TO SLEEPING AND DREAMING 'to sleep in peace without the red devil of dreaming' (60)
'he wouldn't have dared sleep, fearing the dream (106)
'although his sleep had been dreamless.' (106)
'dreams drove him fretfully to the surface of the night' (128)
'he dreaded sleep, sleep and dreams' (158)
TRANSPORTATION
DISLIKE OF MODERNISED TRANSPORT IN SUBURBANISHED LOS ANGELES
DIXS VICTIMS ENTER AND LEAVE BUSES - She was just stepping off the bus. She couldn't see him because he was no more than a figure in the fog and dark.' (2)
BRUB AWARE OF THE MURDERERS CONNECTION TO BUSES 'she's waiting for a bus. He's waiting at the same corner.' (69)
DISLIKE TOWARDS CARS 'you didn't need a car, you had something better, sleek powerful planes' (96)
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DEPENDENCY ON CARS IS PREVALENT 'he had to have a car.' (69) 'you didn't need a car, you had something better, sleek, powerful planes. (96)