Quote:
Originally Posted by sun surfer
I wonder if Pym was speaking to the ultimate mismatch of Joyce and Marcia, or even of most anyone in a position like Joyce's against a force like Marcia. It seems there was a scene (or maybe I'm misremembering, lol) of the last meeting where Joyce and Marcia spoke. Marcia's appearance was so drastic that I do think Joyce could have passed it up the chain of command, or whatever her next step would've been.
It also begs the question of whether Marcia was deathly sick from anorexia or some other mental disorder, or a return of the cancer. What do the rest of you think? Did it seem obvious to you, or was it as vague as I feel it was?
She obviously relished the attention and 'special status' from her cancer and surgery (especially from Dr. Strong). I could see that combined with the loss of her mother, and always eating lightly beforehand anyway, producing a strange onset of anorexia to not only take control but also to produce her own new sickness to keep attention on her (after all, Dr. Strong didn't even see her on the check up scene in the book). Also, there weren't any signs of pain that a recurrence of cancer would probably entail. So, in my mind I feel like she died of severe malnutrition that even a hospital stay couldn't fix.
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I hadn’t thought about the cancer returning being a cause of Marcia’s weight loss. Yet I also don’t think it was really anorexia. She seems more unaware or forgetful about not eating than intentional about it. Her shrinking size is symbolic of her shrinking world after retirement. She isn’t getting nourishment from the world either. She is increasing isolated. She doesn’t want to socialize with her past colleagues. Her character appears to get more disheveled in outward physical appearance.