In this scene of the book , it seems like Swenson’s life is slowly but sure falling apart . His wife has decided to leave him and his daughter no longer wants to speak to him. Without his wife , he has to actually learn how to do this on his own and find other activities to do. He doesn’t know how to cook at all so resolves to microwave dinners but get tired of them. Drinking makes everything feel better to him , so he drinks every single day. He sees the movie blue angel and this peaks his interest but he’s not quite ready to take it on.

Blue Angel

Swenson has given and up and it seems like he’s lost hope. His wife and daughter don’t want to be around him and they are not wrong. He’s been drinking often which shows he doesn’t want to face reality and wants to numb his emotions. He is experiencing the dullness in his life without Sherrrie. He can’t even seem to cook for him self which shows how dependent he was of her.  Him wanting to get the Blue Angel from the store shows that he feels like the professor in there. He considers suicide but realizes he shouldn’t follow the footsteps of his father.

blue angel

I think this is important to the book because it is showing pretty much how Swenson's life is going, we started out reading about how he has a bit of a drinking problem and then being told hes basically going to be alone on Christmas. I think the author is trying to show us that Swenson's life is going a little downhill.

Blue Angel

This scene is important because his life is slowly falling apart. His family lost all respect for him and moved out. Swenson thinks drinking will solve all his problems.

Blue Angel

Ted Swensen has ultimately come down to his breaking point, and he himself already knows it, and has so much guilt and worries and gets overwhelmed while confessing to Sherrie. She leaves him, and goes to live in the farmhouse with Arlene, and he gets a call from his daughter Ruby saying what he did was messed up to mom, and she tells him she’s staying with Sherrie at Arlene’s farmhouse for Christmas. He was hoping she’d forgive him, but he’s lost everything he had in life. He struggles to cook at home and misses the scenery of his wife around. We find out Angela is suicidal and goes to a clinic most of her life, and Sherrie knows her. The breaking point gets so crucial that Ted starts to acknowledge how he’s been blackmailed by Angela and how miserable his life is, and he watches the film Blue Angel and he compares himself and Angela to Professor Rath and Lola Lola, how people with the most power get fooled by throwing away their lives and losing everything they had, In favor to reward someone for something.

Blue Angel

All of this is kinda confusing to me because why would Angela try to expose Swenson if she got what she wanted.. which is getting a contract with his editor.

Finishing Blue Angel

There are so many rich scenes at the end of the novel. Choose one of the following  to write about:

• In the dean's office (which reminds Swenson of a high-end London brothel) where the tape is played.
• The restaurant where Swenson confesses to Sherrie.
• Watching The Blue Angel (pp. 264-266).
•  The last chapter which is a sort of courtroom scene.
• The final scene w/ the deer and the bells tolling.

The ending is what I would call an "open" ending. Things aren't neatly tied up. What do you think  happens next? Were you satisfied by the ending? Why or why not?

What final thoughts do you have about the novel?