When I was first reading this book, I honestly did not know what to expect. I initially thought this was going to be something related to the main character being a spy (Hence the name trenchcoat). The story starts off with a dinner between friends. It’s a nice dinner with conversations between friends and peers. Good food, good wine, good-ish vibes. Although it seems like everything is polite/cozy. Underneath, you could feel some sort of tension where not everyone is relaxed. Like they were filtering and being cautious about everything they were saying. At first I thought that maybe it was the author’s writing style, but as I read more I realized the bigger picture. How it relates to the environment and the times they were currently living in.
And by environment, I mean in the heart of communist Romania. Where everyone and EVERYTHING is under strict surveillance. The secret police could be listening in and watching you at any time. This adds to the difficulity for people to trust anyone. One wrong companionship and your life could be at stake. It also got me thinking about what life would be like if we lived in a situation like that. There would probably be a lot of fear and constant worry whilst doing even the smallest things. But at the same time, it’s interesting that I think there would be more order between people and some people would start thinking more before they act. It’s personally hard to gauge whether or not there would be more conflict, though.
I also thought it was funny that the main conflict in the story was about a simple raincoat left after a dinner. The host finds a raincoat in the hallway that no-one else can explain. I mean, usually this wouldn’t be a big deal. The host would probably put it somewhere in a closet and forget about it till the owner shows up. But again, the times are different. They started off wondering if it belonged to a neighbour or a similar person but then this snowballed. What started off as simple curiosity quickly turned into suspisions and accusations. Maybe the coat belongs to someone who was secretly listening to them. Maybe it’s connected to the authorities. Maybe someone is being watched.
By the end, the story doesn’t actually explain the coat or who it belongs too. Everyone is still living in uneasiness and uncertainty. But I think this was the point. The characters live in a world where they can never be totally sure what’s happening behind the scenes.
Do you think the trenchcoat actually meant something, or were the characters just overthinking it
2 replies on “Watched”
“By the end, the story doesn’t actually explain the coat or who it belongs too. Everyone is still living in uneasiness and uncertainty. But I think this was the point. The characters live in a world where they can never be totally sure what’s happening behind the scenes.”
Totally, as you described the focus is on how everybody is constantly playing this ‘masquerade’ and by the end the ambiguity captures the entire narration.
Please share your thoughts in class.
See you on Wednesday.
Julián.
Hi JK, thanks for your post! I definitely agree that the point of the novel was to convey uncertainty. I felt like this was a direct representation of Romania at the time, where people were constantly unsure about who is surveying them (i.e. who is a member of the secret police). – Zara Shaikh