The title of the book comes from the cartwheel Lily turned between interrogation sessions. Why did the author choose this image as significant?
Created: 09/18/13
Replies: 17
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Join Date: 04/21/11
Posts: 281
Turning over and over, hands over feet, is what Lily's life was about. It gave the impression Lily had no real interest in her situation. This action was frowned upon as being inappropriate and seemed to be one of the most detrimental behaviors she could have been observed doing. I think it was her way of reducing her tension.
Join Date: 06/15/11
Posts: 222
I think in this story, as in the Amanda Knox story, the cartwheel came to signify a person free from care of any type, someone enjoying themselves to the point of elation, someone not fully aware of their situation, or worse yet, thumbing their nose at authorities that they got away with something. This is odd because I believe IF she was guilty, I think she would not have felt the freedom to do a cartwheel, she would have been terrified of what was to come. I think the authorities read this the wrong way .... in both instances. I loved the choice as a title because it signified the carefree spirit of youth and the refusal to believe that life can happen in any way other than how you planned it.
Join Date: 09/11/11
Posts: 132
Amanda Knox did splits and Lily did a cartwheel. Both of these actions appear uncaring on the surface and are metaphors for why people felt that Lily and Amanda were both guilty. I believe that Cartwheel was chosen as the title because it exemplifies a certain aspect of Lily that is very important, her unnerving implacable affect.
Join Date: 04/10/11
Posts: 102
The title is a reference to Lily's behavior while under questioning, which, as others have pointed out, is a metaphor for her life and attitudes. Her explanation later of why she did it just did not ring true.
Join Date: 05/22/12
Posts: 41
Appearances are everything. and nothing. Lily was so clueless about how she was viewed by others and that was frustrating and refreshing--both at the same time. Just like that cartwheel.
Join Date: 05/24/12
Posts: 41
The cartwheel stands for all the odd little things about Lily that made strangers look at her and see a killer, not because there was substantive proof she'd murdered Katy, but because she was capable of doing odd and inexplicable things that struck other people as wrong, insensitive or cold. If she kissed her boyfriend at the murder scene, if she smiled at condoms on camera after her roommate died, if she did a cartwheel in the interrogation room--if she could be so at odds with the appropriate mood after a terrible murder, then the only explanation must be that she did it.
Join Date: 09/11/11
Posts: 132
Join Date: 05/19/11
Posts: 93
I think both Lily and Sebastian were not totally in sync with others thoughts and feelings. Sebastian was portrayed more unusual overtly, but Lily was not aware of how out of sync she was and the cartwheel was just a behavior that she displayed with out realizing why it was not appropriate .
Join Date: 03/22/12
Posts: 353
I think the cartwheel shows how out of touch Lily was. It may just have been a way to relieve tension but to others it signified a lot more. I agree with DorothyT in that it may have been a metaphor for her life
Join Date: 04/10/13
Posts: 54
I like Dorthey's take on this. It also represents how the media affects the news. The simple act of performing a cartwheel damns Lilly to a guilty verdict although it has nothing to do with the crime. I am as guilty of this as anyone !
Join Date: 12/17/12
Posts: 206
I think it is very weird for anyone to do a cartwheel in an indoor, serious public place other than a gym. Maybe the cartwheel signified the way Lily's life was turned upside down
Join Date: 05/10/12
Posts: 48
I agree with janeh completely. Sometimes we forget that the young really have difficulty seeing how actions can have real consequence. We see it over and over again especially when it comes to social media.
Join Date: 12/22/11
Posts: 154
I thought the image was significant as that image was made public early on and thus while he said it did not, I actually thought it started Eduardo thinking and following down one path of how he thought about Lily.
Join Date: 01/31/13
Posts: 110
Malindan and janeh are correct. Kids really are clueless with how things appear. Remind the about what someone might think of an action if they saw it and then they get it. They have to be reminded over and over again that actions can have consequences and sometimes it doesn't matter whether something is wrong, just how it appears can make a huge impact.
Join Date: 09/19/13
Posts: 65
Yes, the cartwheel Lily does affects how the public looked at her lack of concern over Katy's death but I think the title is so appropriate because the whole book is a topsy-turvy cartwheel of emotion, evidence, did she do it - did she not, parents torn between two continents, sister vs sister vs sister. nothing is as it seems, and most of the time readers are doing "mind cartwheels" trying to decide what happened and what is the truth.
Join Date: 09/19/13
Posts: 65
Yes, the cartwheel Lily does affects how the public looked at her lack of concern over Katy's death but I think the title is so appropriate because the whole book is a topsy-turvy cartwheel of emotion, evidence, did she do it - did she not, parents torn between two continents, sister vs sister vs sister. nothing is as it seems, and most of the time readers are doing "mind cartwheels" trying to decide what happened and what is the truth.
Join Date: 09/16/11
Posts: 165
The cartwheel is another mirror of the Amanda Knox story. While I think the character was incredibly insensitive, the title seems to be just another easy way out of the writer.
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