Prince of Tides

After dinner with Susan, Tom studies the literature on psychoses she has given him and calls Lila in Charleston. He tells Lila he has decided to reveal their family secret to Susan since he thinks it may genuinely help Savannah. Lila says that “nothing happened on that day” (457), so Tom should have nothing to tell Susan. Lila’s denial only fuels Tom’s resolve. Lila is afraid that once the secret is revealed, Savannah will write about it openly, bringing their family shame. Tom replies that what happened over two decades ago was not their fault, so she need not be ashamed. It was a crime committed against them. But Lila tells him the best way is to shut the door on the past. After hanging up on Lila, Tom calls Sallie to tell her that he loves her despite everything. Tom is on the verge of making a significant revelation.

In this chapter, Tom finally tells Susan—and the reader—the secret that has traumatized him and his siblings so greatly. He recounts the events leading to the terrible day, which began happily enough with Lila gifting the children presents for their graduation. Tom and Luke finally get their sports jackets, which Lila has stitched herself, while Savannah gets a gold pen since she plans to go to New York and be a writer. After graduation, the three siblings drink bourbon by the river and discuss their future. Savannah, the class valedictorian, seems poised for professional success. While Tom plans to go to college, Luke wants to stay in Colleton and become a shrimper. However, the beautiful evening is somewhat tempered by Savannah’s confession that she still gets hallucinations. Later, on July 19, the children give Lila a bottle of expensive perfume for her thirty-seventh birthday. Luke is sad that his younger siblings are going away. Henry derides his children for showing their emotions so openly.

On the evening of August 3, Henry is still not back from work. Luke is off for a walk. As Lila, Tom, and Savannah enjoy the summer day, they are being watched by a group of men. When Tom goes to answer a knock at the door, one of the men presses a gun against his temple and forces his way inside. The man is Otis Miller, the same person who stalked Lila at Callanwolde. He has just escaped from prison, along with two other inmates. Otis has tracked their address from a letter he intercepted from Tolitha to Amos. Otis brutally rapes Lila, while the other two men each rape Savannah and Tom. The scene, and Tom’s pain, are described in graphic detail to convey its full horror. As Tom is attacked, he spots Luke watching the horror from a window. Soon, there is a loud knock on the back door. As Otis cautiously opens the door, Luke releases Caesar upon the three men. Tom smashes his rapist Randy Thompson’s head in with Father Kraus’s marble statue, and Savannah shoots dead her attacker Floyd Merlin, while Caesar mangles Otis to death, but not before Otis shoots him.

Luke tells Lila they should call the police, but Lila refuses. She even ignores Tom’s bleeding since a man “cannot be raped by another man” (484). She tells the children to get dressed, clean the house, and forget the incident entirely as if it didn’t happen. Tom stares at her in disbelief. Luke asks his siblings to do as Lila says. The family buries the body of the convicts. Luke shoots the dying Caesar, putting the tiger out of his misery. Lila makes the children promise they will never reveal the incident to anyone. Later, when Henry returns, they all have dinner together. A few days later, Savannah slits her wrists for the first time.

A shattered Susan tells Tom this is the worst thing she has heard happen to a family. Tom tells her he has yet to tell her about what happened to Luke.

Herbert orders Bernard off to music camp. Tom comes over to bid his student goodbye, and Bernard tells him Tom is the best teacher he has had in his life. Tom is touched by Bernard’s words. Herbert observes the camaraderie between Tom and Bernard, while Tom notes Bernard’s cruel coldness towards his son. Tom and Herbert’s first meeting is fraught with tension, and Bernard tells Tom that Herbert hates him.

Later, Herbert phones Tom to invite him to dinner after his concert next week. Attending the concert with Susan, Tom is transfixed by Herbert’s playing and talent. He claps wholeheartedly for Herbert as the concert ends. But Herbert’s true motive for inviting Tom becomes apparent at the dinner party when he goads Tom publicly as unsophisticated. Susan is incensed at Herbert’s bad behavior and asks him to “quit picking on Tom” (503). Tom handles Herbert’s sarcasm with humor. Susan has an outburst against Monique for having an affair with her husband. Monique runs out of the room crying. Though the guests try to rescue the situation, Herbert taunts both Susan and Tom. Tom finally dangles Herbert’s cherished Stradivarius violin over the edge of the terrace, threatening to smash it unless Herbert apologizes to him and Susan. After Herbert apologizes, Tom leaves the party. Susan joins him, and they go to Savannah’s apartment, where they make love.

The next morning, while Susan is still at the apartment, Lila phones Tom to tell him that she’ll be dropping in shortly. Susan leaves since she doesn’t want Lila to see her with Tom. Lila comes over. She asks Tom to tell Susan and Savannah’s other doctors that the story he has revealed is made-up, a hallucination resulting from his mental health issues and electroshock treatments. Tom refuses, and Lila finally breaks down and acknowledges the violence and trauma she and her children experienced. In a cathartic moment, she tells Tom she is proud they killed the men for their crimes. She now wants to mend her relationship with Tom and Savannah. She also wants Tom to call Sallie, whom she thinks has been abandoned by her boyfriend.

Tom agrees to make a fresh start with his mother and visits her later at the St Regis Hotel, where she is staying. Reese appears on the scene, and Tom politely shakes hands with his stepfather, apologizing for his past bad behavior.