Meeting with the Mentor

Karen's Energy, Jerry's Stasis

Now that Jerry Downing has entered the world of work in a publishing house, his line manager, Karen Glinda, becomes his ally and mentor. On his first day of work she buys him a drink. Later on in the week she buys him a coffee, nursing him like little baby. Her productive energy counters Jerry’s passive invalidity, replacing the inadequacy of Nicholas Downing as a father figure. Like Kerry, Karen buys Jerry a drink in the pub, but unlike Kerry, Karen enables him to move on with his novel. Because of this, Karen replaces Kerry as well by becoming his girl Friday, relegating Kerry to the position of Miss Lonelyheart. Karen Glinda is the key to unlocking Jerry’s novel.

Allies and Enemies

The Ally - Julia Wells

Julia Wells is a closet writer who is interested in Jerry's endeavour to publish a novel having had her own creative ambitions drummed out of her by family and friends. Once she sees Jerry getting closer to his dream by working for a publisher she extends the hand of friendship by cooking him a meal. But it is only half a meal because she cooks him something that he doesn't eat. In effect, she is feeding herself because she wants to extract the necessary information from him that will enable her to get closer to her dream.

Ally turned Enemy - Kerry Cerberus

Jerry's success in securing employment is met with an atmosphere of resistance by Kerry when Julia informs her of the new development in his life. She observes Kerry's mounting opposition against Jerry and tries to appease the situation by cooking him a meal. Kerry, on the other hand, has given up on Jerry because she is convinced that romance will not develop between them. She has invited him to salsa dancing, bought him a drink and cooked him a meal to establish a feeling of romance, only to discover that there is no room in his life for her. There is now bad blood between Jerry and Kerry which has transformed her from an ally to an enemy.

Approaching the Inmost Cave

Imprisoned in Jerry's Mind

Kerry Cerberus is imprisoned in Jerry's mind as an upper working class girl with aspirations to enter into middle class society through her education. He is a projection of what she will become, and in him she recognises her own faults.

Approaching the Inmost Cave

She walks up the stairs to his room, hypnotically drawn to her quest to interrogate him. It represents her crossing the line from being an initial ally to evolving into an enemy. She invades his room, sussing out an emotional weak spot in his character and starts to needle him. She continues to belittle him, judging him by the standards of the culture she wants to enter into. But in passing judgement about him being unemployed she has condemned herself.