Quiet, Please

[Kitty]

Clarissa
I'd love for you guys to listen to this spooky tale and tell me what your first impression is, specifically what you think happened in the episode. I'll tell you why I'm asking this after your response.

https://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library ... arissa.mp3

[donnie]

When you say what happened, do you mean an explanation for the ending? If so, I'm not really sure, unless

► Show Spoiler

Clarissa was mentally challenged and still had the mind of a child, even though now in old age; and that Heinz sought to conceal this, but that now Clarissa has died, and Heinz, himself dying, cannot see that she has a decent burial, and therefore in desperation is asking the narrator to see to it. That's the only explanation I can think of. Is that right?

[Kitty]

Thanks for your response.

► Show Spoiler

Clarissa was mentally challenged and still had the mind of a child, even though now in old age; and that Heinz sought to conceal this, but that now Clarissa has died, and Heinz, himself dying, cannot see that she has a decent burial, and therefore in desperation is asking the narrator to see to it. That's the only explanation I can think of. Is that right?

That's right, but I was confused at the ending and had to ask for an explanation on the radio group. I guess I looked too far into it, thinking that the giving of the gift broke some kind of spell, and the man aged 20 years and dead old lady was there the whole time, her ghost floating around. This confusion could be due to the bad audio quality. Overall, it was a good play, other than the fact that I'm so dense that I didn't get the twist at the end.

[donnie]

► Show Spoiler

This confusion could be due to the bad audio quality. Overall, it was a good play, other than the fact that I'm so dense that I didn't get the twist at the end.

It wasn't clear to me, either—that was just a wild guess on my part. I figured I was probably wrong, considering the unlikeliness of Heinz and Clarissa dying at about the same time. I'll guess that a large percentage of the original radio audience was confused, too. And here, the audio certainly didn't help.

It just struck me that they probably got this idea from The Fall of the House of Usher. Think about: the narrators of both being normal people living in the house as extended visitors and mystified by what's going on; the house continually spoken of as a dark character itself; the hidden mystery of the female relative; the narrator fleeing the house at the end as it is destroyed with the bodies of both family members in it... The only difference is, with Usher, it's Roderick's sister, and here, it's Heinz's daughter.

[Kitty]

► Show Spoiler

This confusion could be due to the bad audio quality. Overall, it was a good play, other than the fact that I'm so dense that I didn't get the twist at the end.

It wasn't clear to me, either—that was just a wild guess on my part. I figured I was probably wrong, considering the unlikeliness of Heinz and Clarissa dying at about the same time. And the audio certainly didn't help.

It strikes me that they probably got this idea from The Fall of the House of Usher. Think about: the narrators of both being normal people living in the house as extended visitors and mystified by what's going on; the house as a dark character itself; the hidden mystery of the female relative; the narrator fleeing the house at the end as it is destroyed with the bodies of both family members in it... The only difference is, with Usher, it's Roderick's sister, and here, it's Heinz's daughter.

That's comforting that it wasn't clear to you, either, because I felt so stupid at first. Of course, not stupid enough to ask on facebook, but the one who answered seemed like it was a no-brainer. (They were nice about it, but they apparently got it the first time.)
That's a great observation, the parallels of Usher. I never would have thought of that on my own, as I think I might have heard a radio play of that a long time ago, and just once, but it makes a lot of sense. They probably liked the mood and suspense-building. I think this radio play displayed that well.