Illusions in The Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford - Essay Example

The experienced and hardened conman Schell can surprise us with some intrinsic goodness in him. In another way, Schell has judged his clients by their external appearances to gather some basic information about them to use his knowledge to his advantage.

Right from the start, Ford told us that the séance would be a faked setup; ‘To my right, holding fast to the gloved dummy hand that stuck out of the end of my jacket sleeve, was the widow’s sister Luqueer, .......’ (Ford 2). We learned that the brown month that rested on Mrs. Morrison’s heart was led there by the scent; ‘Schell had inconspicuously marked her with a dab of sugar water.’ (Ford 3). We read that the table moved due to Ondoo ‘using the knuckle of my big toe’. (Ford 3). Schell distracted his participants when they were watching the month and he took the opportunity to do another trick; ‘A fine mist of water vapor shot forth from a hole in the flower on his lapel, creating an invisible screen in the air the table. (Ford 3). We read about the technique of projecting an image; ‘....... the beam of light from within Schell’s sleeve hit my pendant, and I adjusted my position to direct the reflection upward into the vapor.’ (Ford 4). After reading about all these tricks of the conman’s trade, we get to understand and form the opinion that magic is not what it seemed to be. What was supposed to be a séance to contact the dead Garfield Morrison, was an elaborate hoax. Milton overreacted when the dead rat fell from above and landed in front of him. The rat was a metaphor for being a snitch and tattle tale among mankind in society. Everyone started to look beyond Milton’s facade when they saw his reaction; ‘“What does this mean?” he yelled at Schell pointing at the razor-toothed corpse before him. His eyes and hair were wild.’ (Ford 5). Milton gave himself away when he created such a big fuss over the rat. It showed that he felt guilty at being pointed out as a rat and he was putting on a good show of denying it. Initially, Milton had told Schell that he was skeptical of the genuine worth of séances. Now, he seemed to have changed his mind. He requested to employ Schell to conduct a séance for him but Schell, smelling a rat behind this sudden conversion of mind, refused to accept his business order. Schell had some basis to place his judgment of people by observing their reactions. He read through Milton’s mask and could see that Milton was not what he portrayed to the others; especially to the Morrisons and his fiancée because he was so anxious to protect or hide his guilt. Schell hinted at Milton’s weakness when he said; ‘“I’ll consider it,” said Schell, “although, usually, I make my services available to only a certain quality of the individual.”’ (Ford 5).
Ondoo is the stage or working name of Schell’s assistant, Diego. He masqueraded as an Oriental man, an Indian from the city of Bombay. We read that he used his ‘best Bombay-by-way-of-Brooklyn accent’ on his employer’s clients. (Ford 5). Ondoo had a repertoire of famous words which consisted of mysterious-sounding fallacies meant to impress his boss’ customers. He said he often used; ‘“May he whose head is flaming burn the demons, haters of prayer, so that the arrow slay them,”’ (Ford 6). Diego used his foreign-sounding language like a prop to create the pretense of being a mysterious

Oriental.
Thomas Schell came across as a ruthless confidence trickster who preyed upon unsuspecting victims and milked them for all their worth. However, he had a softer side.
We have read how he treated Diego and Antony Cleopatra. He never showed his anger whenever something went wrong in his performances. He didn’t reprimand Antony when he gave a knockout punch to Schell’s client, Mr. George Parks. Schell also put in a good word and spoke up for the less privileged. When Schell supposedly contacted Parks’ deceased mother, he took the opportunity to use Mrs. Parks to speak up for Isabel, an immigrant worker from Mexico. He suggested a raise for Isabel and Parks agreed to implement it. Then Schell, still under the disguise of Mrs. Parks’s voice, said; “That’s an excellent start. Be kinder to everyone, George. That way Death will treat you kindly when it’s time for you to make the voyage.” (Ford 31) BThis Schell also treated George Parks with compassion by remembering to praise him as a good son of Mrs. Parks. We also know that his protégé, Diego, admired him despite knowing that he was a conman. Diego, the narrator in the story, wrote; ‘I laughed in admiration. Thomas Schell possessed more flim-flam than a politician, a poet, and a pope put together.’ Read More