Chapter 3: Leviticus

            Over half of this chapter is dedicated to a story the girl hears in a sermon. From this she began to develop her first theological disagreement. I thought the story about the prince searching for perfection was interesting, but a faint feeling of revulsion accompanied me during the beginnings of the story. Searching for perfection to the exclusion of all else, feels wrong to me. When the maiden convinces him that he is looking for a sense of balance I cheered. Unfortunately, he was persuaded to fall back to his old ways, “Because you are a prince, and as a prince you cannot be seen to be wrong.” (Winterson 78) The story also demonstrates what the vast majority of people do when told they are wrong, lash out at the accuser. The disagreement she has is not explicitly stated in this chapter but considering the story that followed the assertion. I think she likely had a disagreement on the subject of perfection. What part of the story about perfection is a major factor. The pursuit of perfection? The idea of perfection itself? Personally, I do not think universal perfection is possible in any mortal thing. Every person or animal has their own idea of perfection different from the being next to them, making the idea of perfection a very subjective thing. As the prince was told more than once, “You’ll be dead first.” (Winterson 80) Chasing an impossibility always leads to a bad end. This story makes me wonder what she took away from it and what she disagreed with, information I hope to find out later in the book.

            The scene from this chapter I want to focus on is at the beginning. She is with her mother and a friend when they hear sounds coming from next door. Her mother said, “They’re fornicating.” (Winterson 64) I thought this scene was interesting because it showed her mothers reaction to sinful actions and her reaction as a child to something she didn’t fully understand at the time. “I didn’t know quite what fornicating was, but I had read about it in Deuteronomy, and I knew it was a sin. But why was it so noisy? Most sins you did quietly so as not to get caught.” (Winterson 65) I laughed here, the logic of a child shines through here. This scene was good for adding depth to the characters in it. The adult’s nuanced interaction with the wineglass to the child’s reaction of wanting to hear what everybody else is listening to was very realistic and brought the reader a little closer to the story. I think the reactions detailed in this scene have some connection to the story told in the latter half of the chapter. The mother reacts aggressively to what she perceives as sin taking place next door. The neighbors also react negatively to the hymns sung next to them. This is one way of showing that both sides react in similar ways, no matter the beliefs or amount of religious fervor. I think actions like these are subtly influencing her that will eventually accumulate to something, what that something is, we’ll have to find out.