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Gburgard Comcastnet
I thought that a writer of Powers caliber would not tell us that Ray was an intellectual property lawyer and then tell us later that Olivia’s father was an intellectual property lawyer if he wasn’t making that connection. Also, in the conversation between Ray and Dorothy near the end of the book, the description of there “imaginary” daughter is too similar to Olivia to be coincidental. Also, the seedling in the cup was mentioned in the Olivia chapter and again as a gift from their daughter, in the conversation between Ray and Dorothy at the end. So, although Ray and Dorothy claim to have no children, I do think there’s a suggestion of magical realism
jrendocrine at least reading is good
I'm leaning toward a reading that has everyone as a meditation of Ray's mind as he watches out the window. He's telling himself stories, and he's given himself a daughter, who is the apple of his eye.
Rozenn Leard
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Ayelet
I did not make this connection at all while reading, but I think it's so lovely. Thank you for sharing.
Andrea Barnett
I think so but my mind had a hard time trying to sort that bit out. Olivia's father being the same type of lawyer as Ray made me suspect and I kept looking for clues, didn't find much more until Dorothy and Ray were discussing their 'imaginary' daughter. It was an odd 'understory'.
Lisa
Yes, absolutely. There were also a few references to Philemon and Baucis, who were rewarded eternal life as trees, so that makes me think that Olivia is now the chestnut tree growing in their yard, tying even more strands of this book together.
Cath Ennis
Thank you to everyone else who was confused by this - I thought it was just me!
Anna
She's the daughter they could have had
Eduardo
I don't think that she is necessarily their daughter, but the hinting at such possibility is definitely there.
And I'd say it's not so much the matter that she is their daughter, but that she could be, that such interconnection could exist (for there is so much about interconnections in the book, not least the 1/4 of genes humans and trees have in common).
And I'd say it's not so much the matter that she is their daughter, but that she could be, that such interconnection could exist (for there is so much about interconnections in the book, not least the 1/4 of genes humans and trees have in common).
Franklin Seal
The author clearly wanted the sharp reader to ponder the question, given the tattoo, the IP lawyer and the seedling in the cup — all three appear in both Olivia's narrative and in the Ray/Dorothy narrative. But he specifically makes it impossible to answer the question, too — we're told they didn't have a daughter, but also that she had the affair which leaves the possibility she could have become pregnant by another man. She was against adoption, but it was never specifically stated that they did not adopt. Unlike some who have said this suggests an element of Magical Realism, I see it as something more surrealist. Very Magritte, a'la Empire of Light.
Here is one of the most incisive articles on the question of is Oliva Ray and Dorothy's daughter: http://politicsslashletters.org/featu... Her answer is a definitive yes, but not in a normal literal sense, and not metaphorically, either.
Here is one of the most incisive articles on the question of is Oliva Ray and Dorothy's daughter: http://politicsslashletters.org/featu... Her answer is a definitive yes, but not in a normal literal sense, and not metaphorically, either.
Normandy
I don't think the it is conclusive that Ray and Dot did not have children. The fact that fertility treatment did not appear to work does not preclude a "natural" pregnancy later. Although Dot opposed adoption, another possibility is she relented and Olivia was an adopted child. I agree with others who state Olivia had an intellectual property lawyer as a father nails it that Ray was her father. Pages 459-460 describe the tattoo on the daughter's shoulder and Ray and the daughter planting the chestnut seedling in the backyard. These things match up with Olivia.
Jackmccullough
I don't think Ray had enough lifetimes to raise Olivia to adulthood while also meeting and eventually marrying Dorothy while he was in his 40's or even younger.
Bee Gee
Glad to see I'm not the only one pondering this.
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