The Price of Salt

With the end of Highsmith's book the main thing on my mind was "God, Therese is still annoying." As the novel slowly developed, I had expected Therese to make some grandiose changes - or at least grow up a little. With their trip out west, readers see Carol change more. She opens up more about her life to Therese and undergoes a huge challenge in her life. I don't see much development at all in Therese.

What has troubled me the entire novel is that I don't understand what either woman sees in the other in that relationship. Therese is always second guessing what she says or does whenever she's with Carol. In the conversations that Highsmith writes Carol usually says something that points out Therese's naivety or lack of understanding. At least Carol has someone to dote on her all the time - which I guess would be a reason to stay. But honestly, I have no idea what Therese is doing. Maybe the reason that she feels so strongly for Carol is because it's her first real lesbian fling and she finally get's a chance to act on emotions that she had previously hidden. The one time where I felt that Therese was truly valuable to Carol (besides just adoring her) was when she spotted the investigator and was cognizant that she had seen him before. This was a crucial detail to notice and was extremely important.

Carol's indifferent (at times) attitude toward Therese soon transferred over to Rindy where Carol claims that she really didn't care if she saw her. At least Carol is consistent - but her attitude is so upsetting. Rindy was the one thing that made her happy and that she looked forward to constantly. With that element fading out of her life (I guess Therese replaced Rindy that way) I can't grasp who Carol is as an individual.