Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead

Part 5 is the culmination of Gilda’s revelations at the end of Part 4. Her conversation with Rosemary forces her to confront Eleanor’s gift of Thin Mint cookies (in Part 3). Gilda hid the Thin Mints so she wouldn’t have to confront Eleanor’s consideration for her happiness, as she’s been under the impression that she has nothing to offer. Rather than expending what she sees as unnecessary energy, Gilda suppresses her feelings altogether. During her conversation with Rosemary, Gilda assumes the other woman thinks her “crazy” for pretending to be Grace (224). However, Rosemary finds humor in Gilda’s antics, bringing lightheartedness to what Gilda thought was a negative situation. Rosemary’s humor allows Gilda to admit to another person for the first time the extent of her mental health conditions (224). This conversation is her revelation at the end of a long period of Lent (her temporary imprisonment by the police). Ironically, it is Gilda’s investigation into Grace—her predecessor, a woman who died by suicide—that pushes her to find meaning in her own life.

After her conversation with Rosemary, Gilda begins to view the entirety of life through the lens of magic. Gilda recalls, for the first time, a pleasant memory of her rabbit Flop and doesn’t dwell on her death (226). The mere thought of magic and her love of Eleanor’s laugh lead Gilda to appreciate the existence of life itself. Dandelions are “astounding” and pigs are “incredible beings” to her now, simply because they exist (227). Gilda has realized that the mundane is no less magical, just because it’s taken for granted. The sudden appearance of Mittens, the cat that’s been missing for the entire novel, is a symbol of Gilda’s new way of life. Easter is a time of rebirth and resurrection, when Jesus Christ was said to be resurrected from death. Mittens emerges from their presumed death, much like Gilda emerges from her self-destructive spiral—toward continued self-improvement and reorientation of her life and views.