The Stolen Watch

I admire Rowling’s writing.  Perhaps I can explain why if I trace a thought process.

In the final vignette of the book, the funeral for Krystal and Robbie, there is a ragged detail.  Tessa is weeping, wondering what more she could have done for Krystal, looking at the image of St. Michael, and thinking eternal thoughts.  Then there is a break in the flow: she sees that one of the Fields urchins is wearing her watch.  Why does Rowling break into the funeral scene to gnaw on a watch?  It’s annoying.

Come to think of it, the watch intruded repeatedly.  Tessa took it off in her office (36), realized much later in the day that it was gone (85), because Krystal had stolen it (86), and she put it in a cheap plastic jewelry box (also stolen, from Nikki) (89), a box in which she kept her pitiful treasures like the rollups (hand-rolled cigarettes) that Fats gave her (262), where Fats saw it and considered making a scene but then opted to resent Cubby instead (305), but then Terri stole it from Krystal (327) and sold it to Obbo (328), except that Obbo paid her in drugs, including the drugs that Krystal used to kill herself (379), and now the watch is on some kid’s wrist in the church (393).

The watch is stupid, or significant.

So, pondering the watch suspiciously, I note that the funeral includes a reminder that Krystal was not a saint.  She did not just sleep around; she also stole stuff. 

Andrew’s thoughts on the day of the funeral put that in context, perhaps.  Andrew retrieves a long-submerged memory.  When he was much younger, his doctor found he had a dangerous peanut allergy, and notified his teachers at St. Michael’s.  They stored an EpiPen there for him, and explained the problem to his classmates.  Fats tested the allergy: he gave Andrew a peanut wrapped in a marshmallow.  When Andrew stopped breathing, Krystal recognized the problem and got help, saving his life.  Krystal would have gotten recognition for it, but she knocked out Lexie’s teeth the next day.  What people – especially Howard – remembered was the assault, which Lexie probably deserved, knocking out teeth that were already loose.  People – including Andrew – forgot that she was a hero.

She stole the watch.  That’s bad and she’s not a saint (insight #1).  Juxtaposed in the chapter: keep it in context (insight #2). 

Still pondering the watch suspiciously, I note that she kept it in a box of pitiful treasures.  In the Potter series, there was an orphan with a box of silly stolen treasures – Tom Riddle.  The Horcrux madness began with that box.  Rowling pays attention to the treasures in a child’s life, and consider them important, revealing.  So what are Krystal’s treasures?  Not much there: everything of value in that house gets sold for crack.  What else was there?  Her treasures include the box itself (stolen), rollups from Fats, the stolen watch, the medal from beating St. Anne’s rowing on their river, and a red plastic heart with Robbie’s photo.  That’s worth recalling at her funeral.  (Insight #3)

Still pondering the watch: they are used to keep track of time.  Barry and Mary Fairbrother were happily married, but she was upset about his use of time.  The first conflict that comes to light in the book is expressed in terms of time.  It’s not just that he is struggling against a deadline with the newspaper.  Much more importantly, “he had come to realize, after nearly two decades together, how often he disappointed her in the big things. It was never intentional. They simply had very different notions of what ought to take up most space in life” (6).  It says “space,” but means “time.”  Mary felt that Krystal was taking time from Barry that did not belong to her. (Insight #4)

I note that Tessa used it to keep track of time.  The watch shows up in the story when Tessa is in her office at 10:30 in the morning.  She has an appointment with Krystal at 10:40.  Krystal burst in the door and slammed it shut 10:51.  This is a problem with people in helping professions.  Tessa really did care about Krystal, truly and deeply.  And Krystal trusts her.  When Krystal is raped, and when Robbie is abused, Krystal does plan to get help from Tessa.  But is has to be scheduled right; she has to follow a procedure.  The procedure that Krystal plans is not in the counseling department handbook: she plans to shag Fats, get pregnant, and ask the baby’s grandmother for help.  Those details are not in the school manual, but the underlying idea – that you have to follow a procedure to get help from a counselor -- is based on school policy.  Is it okay for Krystal to take Tessa’s time, or is it some kind of crime like theft? (Insight #5)

Last meander on time: There is a school of thought that speaks of the different “languages of love.”  People express love or perceive love in five different ways: praise, service, gift, time, and touch.  (1) Praise, words of encouragement: you can give out an endless supply.  But no one praised Krystal except Barry Fairbrother, and the newspaper article that he arranged – and, in the end, Sukhvinder’s eulogy.  The medal that she won rowing was a great treasure; she got it because of him.  (2) Service, actions that help: A variety of people offered services to the Weedons, including Kay, but their services were not perceived to be love, and indeed may not have been motivated by love.  (3) Gifts: Fats gives Krystal a few rollups (hand-rolled cigarette), and she treasures them, not because she likes them – it is explicit that she does not like them (262) – but because they are gifts.  (4) For Krystal, touch was not a good language of love: her mother was a prostitute sometimes, and Krystal was raped.  When she and Fats touched, he was using her, and she was using him.  (5) Time, especially “quality” time, is a precious commodity; and it is a limited commodity, unlike praise.  Barry gave Krystal his time.   (#6)

When Rowling kept track of the chain of custody of that silly watch, did she really intend all that symbolism?  Not all, for sure – but some, for sure.