Not Logged in.

Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?

Created: 07/22/15

Replies: 10

Posted Jul. 22, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?

The adults visiting the Meiers' summer house carry their fair share of secrets. Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?


Posted Jul. 26, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
robinn

Join Date: 12/06/14

Posts: 28

RE: Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?

Things have already gone wrong and cannot be reversed. Marc has the most as he will most likely lose his license to practice.


Posted Jul. 27, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
barbluvstennis

Join Date: 07/16/11

Posts: 22

RE: Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?

I agree completely with Robinn….I also believe that down deep there is a moral code in Marc, but once a unsavory act is committed, it becomes easier the second time around…Besides his license, he has lost his soul…


Posted Jul. 27, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joanp

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 102

RE: Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?

Obviously Marc, but everyone in the story loses something. His family is torn apart and Ralph's family is without a husband and father.


Posted Jul. 28, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
juliep

Join Date: 04/07/12

Posts: 250

RE: Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?

Well, Marc does, I guess, but everyone in this story has something to lose, since they all contribute by their actions. Take away the actions of even one character, and it changes how another character reacts.


Posted Jul. 29, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
rebeccar

Join Date: 03/13/12

Posts: 548

RE: Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?

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.


Posted Aug. 03, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jeant

Join Date: 06/16/11

Posts: 17

RE: Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?

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.


Posted Aug. 04, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
donnac's Gravatar
donnac

Join Date: 03/26/14

Posts: 139

RE: Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?

Maybe I'm misinterpreting this question but I think that Ralph had -- and did -- have the most to lose. Can't lose much more.


Posted Aug. 04, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
rosemaryk

Join Date: 08/29/11

Posts: 61

RE: Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?

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.


Posted Sep. 01, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
roberts

Join Date: 08/20/13

Posts: 31

RE: Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?

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.


Posted Sep. 28, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
shirleyf

Join Date: 04/25/11

Posts: 63

RE: Who has the most at stake if things go wrong?

Things did go wrong! And the adults were perpetrators and did little to nurture their children (none of the 4 were adults - they were barely in their teens!) Their entire lives will be affected by what happened that summer.


Reply

Please login to post a response.