“ THE LAUGHING GIRL”

Explain Nathan’s investigation ( through H. Peoples ) to find Aurora, his ( lost ) “poor niece”. Once he finds out where she lives, he hits the road again ! to bring her back to Brooklyn and the family.
Flashback on Aurora’s life and folly. She has been “saved”, i.e. is in the hands of D. Minor, a Christian fanatic who gradually became domineering and abusive until he finally locked her up to control her.
The beginning of the chapter focuses on the setting of this abuse and of the rescue. The atmosphere is “gloomy”, the house is shabby, closed to light ( like “a cave” ) , as if “against the glare of natural light”, so as to fend off the “outside world” , in a perversion of reality ( Fundamentalism ). Nathan’s overall impression generates anxiety and a series of “what if” ( a tragic outcome to Rory’s story ? ).
He wonders if he ( not “it” ) is too late, which suggests his newly-found sense of responsibility towards his family.. He is prepared to any possible development and has lost part of his easy-going self-confidence.
The passage first describes the conversation between the Southern Christian fanatic and the Jewish atheist…quite an impossible one – the tone is ambivalent, varying from serious and tense to funny and sarcastic ( Nathan is obviously uncomfortable ) – then in a second part , the situation is reversed : Minor no longer has the upper hand and Nathan rescues Rory.

I . David Minor : “Mr Holy” ! At best, deeply ambiguous, at worst, a fake, hypocritical “monster”. His ambiguity is immediately pointed out by Nathan : he is good-looking, with “ gentle blue eyes”. In a few words totally “ unthreatening”, “ normal” : Nathan is partly deceived by Minor’s appearance, behaviour then conversation.
However, Nathan identifies him as “a man who had been to church”, which sounds as a clue to beware of him! “ Pleasant enough “ or “ like a fanatic” ? Where is the truth ? Nathan wonders as the conversation starts and