The adults visiting the Meiers' summer house carry their fair share of secrets. Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?
Created: 07/22/15
Replies: 10
Join Date: 10/15/10
Posts: 3442
Join Date: 12/06/14
Posts: 28
Join Date: 07/16/11
Posts: 22
Join Date: 06/13/11
Posts: 102
Join Date: 04/07/12
Posts: 265
Join Date: 03/13/12
Posts: 548
Marc seems to have the most to lose since his medical license represents years of study, work, and money spent on classes. All one has to do, however, is read a newspaper or watch the news, and it is easy to see that a medical license doesn't deter people from unsavory acts. Today's social media headline about the Minnesota dentist that lured a favorite lion out of a National Park and killed it reinforces the worthlessness of a medical license if a person is inclined towards immoral acts.
Join Date: 06/16/11
Posts: 17
I think the children had the most at stake. Alex, Thomas, Julia and Lisa are all still young enough to be totally dependent on the adults in their lives for their safety, welfare and moral upbringing. The traumatic events of that summer will impact them to varying degrees for the rest of their lives.
Join Date: 03/26/14
Posts: 139
Join Date: 08/29/11
Posts: 61
I think the children have the most to lose; they already have a negative sense of morality. They would have to meet up with some amazing positive forces to counteract the lives they've been living. Perhaps losing even more, though, could also shake up their lives and bring them some form of redemption.
Join Date: 08/20/13
Posts: 31
I also believe the children had the most to lose. After all, what is more precious to a child than his innocence, and that is precisely what was at risk. Even before the night on the beach the children experienced Ralph and Stanley's unhealthy and perverse attraction to the young girls, Ralph's nudity (what an ugly vision!) and the excessive drinking. Further, the kids had to be aware of the chemistry between Judith and each of Stanley and Marc. And then there was the age difference between Stanley and Emanuele who was not much older than Julia. We would need to consult with a child psychologist to understand how these stimuli affected the children, but I suspect that it was profoundly.
The rape on the beach changed Julia for the rest of her life, and given her parents' passivity in addressing the tragedy the effect on Julia will likely be much worse than it has to be. The other children were affected as well. Whether we accept Ralph's story regarding the repairman or assume a more active role for Alex, Alex was very much exposed to the event, and his mind will be seared by the images of that night. Finally, young Lisa and Tom were too close to the episode and its aftermath, physically and emotionally, to be immune from its lasting effect.
For all of the children we can expect that their approach toward sexuality and relationships will be forever changed by the vacation at the beach house.
While the children were the most exposed to the effects of the excesses at the beach house each of the adults was also playing with fire. For Ralph and possibley Stanley, if their fondness for young girls were exposed their careers could be short circuited ( a la Roman Polanski) affecting their wives and children as much as themselves. And for Marc, exposure of his adulterous plan could have doomed his marriage.
Join Date: 04/25/11
Posts: 65
Reply
Please login to post a response.