The Westing Game

At the beginning of The Westing Game, the characters seem to fit into easy social categories as they move into their apartments. Even the physical spaces they receive from Westing in Sunset Towers influences this perception. Grace believes that she has a three-bedroom apartment, even though Sydelle once asks, when she walks into Turtle’s room: “What’s everybody doing in the closet?” (55). Furthermore, when Grace notes that she and Judge Ford have the same layouts, but that three bedrooms are spacious for one woman, Judge Ford thinks: “What does she mean, three bedrooms?” (58). Grace is under the illusion that she is of a certain social status. Her interpretation of her apartment is directly correlated to how she (mis)interprets her social status.

Similarly, when Sydelle first moves in, she is ecstatic to be in “an elegant building where rich people lived. But she wanted a lake view” (4). Her crutches are, as most everyone notices, a call for attention. Angela sees this explicitly when she is at the hospital, as the doctor tells her there is nothing wrong with Sydelle other than the injury she got during the bomb explosion. Sydelle hopes that if others pay attention to her, that she will gain importance in the community; however, it is not until she drops the crutch act that she gains attention.