An Unsuitable Job for a Woman

Throughout the novel what is outside is contrasted against what is inside. Sir Ronald is a respected scientist and peer; he is also a murderer. Cordelia is a pretty young woman; she is also a ruthlessly intelligent and resourceful detective. Bernie was a hack; he also trained Cordelia to be an even match for Dalgliesh. Isabelle is vapidly beautiful; she also has a keen eye for fine art. Amid these contradictions Mark exists as an enigma, revealed only through the way others describe him, which suggests that appearances are reality.

The symbolic importance of a house’s exterior is a motif used throughout the novel to underscore James’s theme that appearances can be—but aren’t always—deceiving. The Callender house is “as artificial and unsubstantial as a film set [….] a heavy silence lay over it and the rows of elegantly proportioned windows were empty eyes” (38). Summertrees, the Markland estate, is “an intimidatingly ugly house” (54), while the cottage Mark occupied had a “gentle melancholy charm” (61). Sophie Trilling’s house has the same layout as one Cordelia lived in as a foster child, but Sophie’s house has a “clean, sun-scented interior,” while Cordelia’s unhappy memories include “the strong odor of unwashed napkins, cabbage and grease” (100). Later, after Cordelia is stymied in her pursuits, the windows of Sophie’s home appear “as blank as dead rejecting eyes” (131).

Like Mark’s strap, Bernie’s gun has a dual nature. It represents a threat of violence when Cordelia uses it to scare off Chris Lunn, thus saving her life and leading to his death. Cordelia looks to the gun as protection, but it nearly causes her downfall when Dalgliesh discovers that she has lied about its whereabouts. Guns, like the strap, can reveal the truth of a murder versus a suicide—but Cordelia wields the gun carefully enough that it cannot give away Sir Ronald’s murder.