The Fury

Like the writer Christopher Isherwood, Elliot decides to write about his younger self in the third person because it allows distance and perspective. He refers to himself as “the kid.”

The kid’s childhood is lonely—his parents are abusive and addicted to alcohol. He is bullied at school and otherwise ignored. The high point of his adolescence is his first time in a play. The kid basks in the applause but sees his bullies in the crowd and knows he will pay for being happy. The next day, they force him to drink rotten milk. Now, Elliot is angry thinking about it, especially in light of the fact that he was trained by his parents to take the abuse.

The kid begins going to the movies and skipping school. On the cinema screen, he sees Lana for the first time. She is not much older than him. He falls in love with her through her movies.

As the kid grows up, he teaches himself how to be an adult, and he runs away just after he turns 17. He goes to London to be an actor, not realizing how difficult it would be. He doesn’t know that he’s not handsome enough or a good enough actor. Over time, he becomes unhoused and participates in sex work twice to make a living. After the second time, he goes into a bar and meets Barbara West. They drink together, and Barbara brings him home. He never leaves.

The kid knows that Barbara is a predator; however, he knows what he is getting out of the bargain and goes into it with open eyes. He also takes advantage of her library, reading voraciously, beginning with Dickens.

Living with Barbara changes him, and one day, he realizes that he has left the kid behind and is a completely different person. He names himself Elliot Chase, after a Noël Coward character, and soon thereafter, he meets Lana.

Elliot meets Lana for the first time at an opening-night party for one of Kate’s plays. He tries to get Barbara to introduce him, but she won’t, so he introduces himself. He and Lana talk all night, and although he is usually awkward in the company of others, that night he is at his wittiest and most interesting. He implies that he is involved with Barbara, knowing that Lana will feel safe with him if she thinks he is in a relationship. Barbara notices Elliot and Lana’s interaction, and although she doesn’t make him pay at the time, he pays later.

To show the reader the nature of his relationship with Lana, Elliot chooses to describe their first walk together. Elliot brings Lana a flower, which immediately makes her uncomfortable. He spends the rest of the time trying to put her at ease. He tells her he only wants friendship, but she knows that he wants love. She sets the boundaries of their relationship, in which Elliot is always a friend. Looking back on this scene now, Elliot reflects that he might have misunderstood the scene as being about him, but it was actually about her. He thinks that if he’d been braver, that day, and the future, might have turned out very differently.

After that first walk, Elliot often accompanies Lana on her walks. He realizes now that although they talked a lot, they were both, on some level, putting on a performance for the other. Further, he realizes that he knew Lana was performing for him but preferred that version of her to the reality version he suspected existed underneath her façade.

Soon, Elliot can be found at Lana’s house most days. He enjoys the family feeling of the house, with Leo practicing guitar and Agathi in the kitchen. It is the only place he has ever felt loved, and Lana is the only person he ever showed his true self to.

After Elliot’s therapist talks about paying attention to the child inside him, his life changes. He accepts the kid and decides to take care of him. He tells Lana about his childhood, and she opens up about her childhood and marriage. Elliot tells her he loves her, and she returns the sentiment. Then, they kiss. Afterward, Elliot becomes convinced that to be with Lana is his destiny.

Elliot decides to ask Lana to marry him. He practices proposing and buys a ring. The night he plans to propose, he is due to meet Lana at an art gallery. When he arrives, however, Lana isn’t there, but Kate is. She introduces him to her date, Jason, just as Lana arrives.

When Kate introduces Lana to Jason, the night changes. Lana flirts endlessly with Jason and ignores Elliot completely. Elliot leaves the gallery confused and feeling rejected. At home, Barbara tells him that she talked to Lana earlier that day and told her everything about Elliot’s past, what he’d done, and even his real name. She warned Lana that he is dangerous. Elliot fantasizes about pushing Barbara down the stairs.

Elliot and Lana’s friendship survives. He likes to imagine that Lana confronted Barbara but doesn’t know what happened because he and Lana never talk about it. Barbara dies soon after that night, and after she does, Lana gets back in touch. Soon, it is as if nothing happened.

By then, however, Lana and Jason are seriously involved; they soon get married. Elliot goes to the wedding and sits next to Kate, both of them with broken hearts.

Elliot admits to the reader that he knew about Kate and Jason’s affair. He sees them leaving a pub one night and knows it is his chance to get Lana back.

Elliot spies on Kate and Jason and takes notes. While he watches them, he considers their motives, wondering why they are doing it. He assumes that for Jason, it is about revenge against Lana for being more powerful than him. Kate, on the other hand, wants Jason to choose her over Lana.

One night, Elliot follows Kate to a meeting with her friend Polly. He can tell, even through the window, that Polly is telling Kate to leave Jason. Kate doesn’t listen, but in the days that follow, she feels guiltier and guiltier. She begins to believe that she should tell Lana the truth. Elliot wonders whether she thinks Lana will forgive her. He realizes that Kate is a romantic, like Lana.

Elliot is sure he’s not the only person to know about Kate and Jason’s affair, but Lana’s celebrity acts as an insulator, and she remains oblivious. Elliot knows that if he is the one to tell Lana, she will hold it against him. He tries to engineer accidental discoveries but isn’t successful. Finally, he plants Kate’s earring on Jason’s jacket. He sees the way Lana reacts as an indication that she already knew, deep down, about the affair.

The night she finds the earring, Lana goes to Elliot’s house. He is happy that his plan worked but dismayed when he learns that Lana has no intention of leaving Jason. Elliot can’t believe that he misunderstood her so completely—she is in love and will give up Kate, perhaps, but not Jason. He realizes he will have to go further. Elliot begins to plan, using what he knows about story and character to help him strategize.

Elliot returns the story to the night Lana is shot on the island. He takes Lana’s pulse while Jason returns to the house, followed by Kate and Leo. Agathi remains with Elliot and Lana.

Lana sits up, and Agathi nearly screams. Elliot explains that the death is fake and that they need her to play her part. Agathi begins to cry and walks back to the house. Lana runs after her despite the fact that it could ruin their plan. Elliot tells the reader that this is the point where his plan begins to go awry.