The Cold Dish

Content Warning: This section mentions sexual assault.

“Melissa should have been a beautiful Indian maiden standing on the rolling, grassy hills of the Little Big Horn, arms outstretched to a future that held promise, security, and freedom.”

Here, Walt muses on the injustice and unfairness of life. He considers how Melissa’s life would be different had she not been born with fetal alcohol syndrome. This section of the novel deals with Melissa’s rape by four of her classmates, and Walt fixates on Melissa’s disability’s role in the situation—she does not understand what happened to her, and her classmates assaulted her because of it. Walt feels that nothing can give Melissa the life that she deserves. His thought here takes on a wistful tone, imagining her almost as a storybook character, which juxtaposes sharply with her situation. This part of the novel also characterizes Walt; his sympathies naturally lie with those, like Melissa, who are disadvantaged or marginalized.

“Pretty animals. […] Do you think they feel pain like we do?”

Vonnie’s question, which she asks Walt while looking at hunting trophies, hints at larger themes and character development. As someone who has experienced great pain, she feels empathy for others who suffer, especially Melissa. Vonnie’s empathy for Melissa is the key motive in murdering her assailants, so this question subtly foreshadows her role.

“There was more noise from the kitchen, and whistling. Unless I missed my guess, it was Prokofiev’s Symphony Number One, sometimes in D, and it was being butchered.”

Walt recognizes a tune Henry whistles while cooking as an excerpt from a symphony by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Defying stereotypes and