In "This Morning, This Evening, So Soon" we're presented with this mystery that is never solved. When money out of Ada's purse goes missing, Boona is accused of stealing it. Could he really be a thief or did someone else in the group steal it? Where's the cash????
Suspects:
The narrator - He isn't in the same room when the money is allegedly stolen. Also, when he hears the money is missing, his first thought is to just give Ada the amount that went missing. He is a rich movie star/singer and is pretty wealthy -- he has no reason to steal. I'd say he is definitely innocent.
Ada & friends - Could they just be tourists fishing for some extra money? When they first meet the narrator and Vidal, Ada offers to buy them a drink. This shows that Ada isn't extremely cheap with her money. However, what about her friends?
We don't get much detail on the other Americans aside from Pete singing. However, before Ada introduces herself at the cafe, the narrator comments that Ada seems to be in charge. Based on the assumption that Ada is sorta like a "ringleader", I doubt any of the other Americans would try to swindle the narrator and Vidal without consulting with her first. The Americans are very polite about the whole situation and don't try to make a huge scene out of it. Ada even apologizes for the trouble at the end. I'd say this group is innocent.
Vidal - Is he trying to frame Boona to get him out of the picture so he has a better chance with Ada? He does seem to manipulate the narrator in order to get the desired response and acting he wants for his movie. What makes him not manipulate someone else for his own benefit again? Ada seems to be more interested in Boona than Vidal. Is it possible that Vidal is jealous? If so, is this jealousy enhanced by the fact that he is famous and Boona is not? Competition might not mix well with Vidal. I'd say he's a prime suspect in this.
Boona - Is he desperate enough to steal money from friends of a friend? Within the story, the narrator believes that Boona is guilty, saying that Boona might be having to do this to eat tomorrow. However, if this is the case, why wouldn't he just steal from someone else? There are plenty of other tourists around in Paris. When Boona talks to the narrator about it, it's mentioned that his eyes are full of tears. This might be either because he is afraid of being caught, or he is genuinely hurt that he would be accused of stealing. He even offers to let the narrator search him for the money. To me, the offer to be searched shows how desperate Boona is for these accusations to go away.
My conclusion is that either Boona is an incredibly good actor and thief or that he is innocent.
Perhaps Talley saw wrong and Ada just lost the money somewhere.
Who do you think is the guilty one?
Ada certainly could have lost the money, but they all seem so uncomfortable with the whole situation, she does have a strong desire just to forget about it, to let it go. This question partly reflects how well we trust the narrator as a judge of character: he seems to "get" these American college students right away, and seems not to see them as even capable of such a deliberate scam as you propose. He seems to think it's very likely that Boona did take the money, although he too just wants the conflict to dissolve, to never have happened in the first place. He accepts the idea that Boona is probably a thief, he describes him as sketchy from the start (especially in his relations with women), and he's bothered only by the discomfort it causes him to accuse his friend like this (and the implication that doing so because Boona is North African, and these guys have a reptutation as thieves in Paris). Why doesn't he search Boona, when he offers to submit to a search? Because he doesn't actually want to find the money, and he doesn't want to have to search his friend. The actual location of the money is less important within this story than the conflicted feelings the situation generates in the narrator.
ReplyDeleteI think it was probably Boona, based on one observation about the narrator: he seems incredibly reliable. He has never said or done anything that made me distrust him, and, as you said, he's doing well as a singer, so doesn't have any need to be dishonest. With that in mind, I found it a bit hard to take Boona's side when he was in direct conflict with the narrator. Boona swore that he had never stolen anything in his life, whereas the narrator was sure he had, as a necessity for getting by. Since I think Boona lied about his past thievery, I tend to think that he lied in this situation too. I think Boona did steal the money, but purely to get by, with no real malicious intent.
ReplyDeleteI think that since we have one "eyewitness account" that the money was stolen by Boona, then either Boona stole it in fact or the person claiming to have seen Boona steal it must have stolen it. Also... I don't think charisma can be taken seriously in a context of criminal accusation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your eyewitness account statement, but I disagree with your charisma one.
DeleteI feel like it should definitely be taken into account. How people act influences what everyone thinks of the situation. Also, how a person acts can make all the difference in whether or not they are trusted.
With Boona, his tearful eyes and the description of him to be in search of women really lets us see how the people in this story judge his character.
I love the style of this post! Reminds me of playing Clue Jr. as a kid :) I definitely thought that Boona took it. I didn't think that Ada would wrongly accuse someone of taking her money, especially not based on race, as Boona implied. Since they were both racial minorities, they would know how it feels to be in a situation where they are wrongly accused based on their skin tone. I doubt Ada would wish that on anyone. In addition, Ada seems very hesitant about bringing up the topic. If she made up the incident, or framed him, then she'd be more sure about her accusation, and less timid. Those are just my thoughts at least!
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the story, I had some really sleazy feelings about Vidal, and I suspected him of stealing the money. I didn't want Boona to be guilty, because I felt sorry for him -- but I suppose if he did take the money, it wouldn't entirely diminish my sympathy, because he definitely would have taken it out of need and not malice. I do think most signs point to Boona being the guilty one (the part that made him seem the most manipulative was the fact that he tearfully tells the narrator to search him, knowing full well that the narrator wouldn't actually do such a thing). However, I'm still hopeful that it was Vidal, out of jealousy, trying to turn Ada against Boona -- and since Talley claimed he saw Boona take the money, I thought that maybe he was also trying to turn Ada against Boona, at least out of protection, if not jealousy.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting one. I spent a long time trying to figure out who I thought was guilty. The club was probably dark, and they were drinking so it is possible he could have mistakenly thought Boona stole the money. It's also possible Vidal took it because he did seem to be trying to get rid of Boona the whole night, and then swoop in and be the night in shining armor for Ada so he has a better change. I say it's a toss up between them or Ada losing the money.
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