Katia Matsapura

Group 403

Summary

The Letter

The Letter is a short story written by Greg Lenihan.

The story takes place in the colonial-style mansion in Washington, D.C. Two men,
Justin, Jr. and Justin, Sr. have a conversation about the announcement of Justin, Jr.
to marry one of his students after the graduation. He means a young poetess, whose
first book received significant acclaim. Justin, Sr. supported his son’s decision,
unlike his mother. She was very afraid of rumors, because she went to church,
where she only heard all kinds of gossip.

Standing under the moon, Justin, Jr. argues that under the silver one could believe
that there is no injustice in the world, Justin, Sr. supports his son, and he would
like it to be true. But Justin, Sr. recalls that he received a letter in the morning and
decides to let his son read it.

A former teacher named Christopher Сrost writes to judge Justin Solomon, Sr.
about his innocence in the murder of his wife. He remembers Rachel's last words
about her regret for what she did, and then he heard a gunshot in the bedroom,
when he entered, he found Rachel dead on the floor.

The background to this is the following situation. As a teenager, Christopher was

in love with a 15-year-old actress. When she became pregnant and refused to have
an abortion, his father helped her financially. But he had to take Christopher out of
school so he could control him at home.

After that, he looked for devotion in the woman. When he met Rachel, he talked
her out of becoming a nun. They got married and had a satisfied sex life until the
doctor told her that something was wrong with her. But despite this, Christopher
loved Rachel very much.

One evening, the doorbell rang. When Christopher opened it, there was a girl who
looked like his first love Debbie. The girl called him dad and said that her mother
was dead. The girl fell on his chest and began to cry. Hearing this, Rachel came
down and asked what was happening. But Christopher was afraid to admit that this
was his daughter, and said that this was his student whose mother had died. Rachel
sympathized with the girl. Christopher asked the girl to leave and meet with her the
next day. But before that, he found out that her name was Emily.

He sensed that Rachel was stirring up something. She hired a detective and saw
pictures of Christopher kissing Emily.

On the morning of Good Friday, when Christopher woke up, Rachel was gone. He
left her a note of his late. Emily and he set off for south. He managed to find out
what difficulties Debbie experienced. When Christopher's father ran out of money,
she had to work as a night dancer. Later she met a filmmaker who was filming
pornography, and Debbie had no choice but to grab the last chance to make money
fast. The last straw was an overdose.

Christopher blamed himself very much for what happened, but Emily forgave him.
When he returned home, Rachel told him that she saw him and Emily together at
the motel, then she hired a detective who has direct evidence in the form of
photographs. Christopher was again afraid to admit everything. Then Rachel said
that they would have to divorce.

The next day, while walking with Emily in Maryland, he realized that meeting
with Emily was love at first sight. The girl said that she was flying to New York,
because she wants to jump at a chance to play on Broadway, because it was her
mother's dream.

After Emily left, Christopher drove home to tell Rachel everything, but it was too
late.

Christopher asks for release from Justin Solomon, Sr., otherwise he will go crazy.

After reading, Justin Solomon, Jr. realized that Christopher was innocent. He
realizes that Rachel killed Emily and then committed suicide. He asks his father to
let him go. Then the father explains that it is not so simple, because when
Christopher was shown the body of Emily, he denied having ever seen her. It was a
huge blow for him, and he was not able to accept it, so Justin, Sr. cannot release
him, so it will finally kill him.

After the whole story, Justin, Jr. comes to the conclusion that life is very difficult.
He understands that this letter is a kind of warning, but he still cannot understand
which one.