Part 1 Summary
The narrator summarizes the scandalous actions of Joe and his wife, Violet. Joe kills his 18-year-old girlfriend, Dorcas, and Violet's initial response is to cause a disturbance at Dorcas' funeral. Violet is forcibly removed from the service after attempting to slice the deceased girl's face with a knife.
Violet is determined to seek revenge on her husband, but before doing so, she releases her beloved pet birds who have a strong affection towards her. To execute her plan of punishing her husband for his wrongdoing, she devises two strategies; firstly, to begin a romantic relationship with a new partner and secondly, to gather information about her rivals.
Violet's main focus is on the second task, which is to uncover as much information as possible about the deceased girl. She is determined to learn about Dorcas' physical appearance, hair-styling preferences, and musical tastes. To achieve this, Violet emulates Dorcas' dance moves during practice sessions.
Violet places a picture of Dorcas, given by the dead girl's aunt, on her mantelpiece. Both Joe and Violet look at the photo for various reasons and at different times of the day. Joe gazes at it to alleviate his remorse and recollect the love he and Dorcas shared. On the other hand, Violet examines it to perceive beyond the girl's youthful and attractive appearance and expose her as a sly person who stole her husband.
Violet is feeling overwhelmed by the investigations and the additional workload she has taken on due to Joe's inability to work after being heartbroken. As a result, she feels like she's losing control of her thoughts and her mind has been deteriorating gradually. There are two incidents that demonstrate her increasing madness: one where she sits in the middle of traffic, and another where she almost takes someone's baby. Part one concludes with Violet reminiscing about the days when she had a strong and healthy mind.
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