Reply To: TRWR: How did you feel about Garnet Dern’s choice?
Garnet is depicted as a selfish person. She has a comfortable, happy life with her husband and children, yet she also has the excitement and romance of her affair with Brody. She’s the definition of “having your cake and eating it too.” I think she sensed that Brody was questioning if he should continue their relationship, not only because she was unwilling to leave his brother but also because of his reaching out to Angie. When she came into possession of Angie’s diaries, the question was would she choose to destroy Angie? All indicators pointed in that direction.
I’m not 100% sure how I feel about WKK’s depiction of Garnet’s sexual energy as destructive. He writes her as pulling men into her orbit and the men being helpless around her. It teeters on being a cliche of the “femme fatale.” I say this in part because of the passage with Scott. His encounter with her encourages him to follow his friend to invade Kyoko’s privacy and results in her dog being shot. So Garnet’s sexual presence triggers destructive choices. I appreciated that WKK tried to balance Garnet’s character by showing her helping Marta’s family and such. In doing so, he makes her choice to not use Angie’s diaries publicly more plausible. Yet, she still imposes the condition on Angie, which she didn’t need to do. She may tell Angie (and herself) it’s to protect Brody, but I think I agree with Jane that it’s a last “Hail Mary” pass to see if Brody backs off from Angie.
Ultimately, I think both Garnet and Brody realize their relationship simply has run its course and would never work. If she were to leave her husband, doing so would really destroy the entire family, and neither of them wants that.
