Irony of the Spoils of Poynton

After finishing the Spoils of Poynton, I was disappointed in the simple ironic twist that James put on the ending of the book. Although I was pleased that he followed through with an unhappy ending that illustrated Owen’s simplistic character and followed through on the expectations I had for Owen, it was frustrating that Felda would be so crushed in such a ridiculously ironic way—that Poynton would burn just as she was arriving there to claim her prize (which I assume was the Maltese Cross, since that seemed to be her favorite object). Perhaps it served as a further symbol for the end of her relationship with Owen, but it seemed to be boiled down further than I expected.

I was also confused about Mrs. Gereth’s logic in sending all the objects back so quickly. As I thought before, for a woman so observant she certainly missed the simplicity of her son in expecting that things would go correctly. She did assume that Felda would have taken care of everything, and this seemed to be a misjudgment on her part as well, as miss judging Felda as someone who makes timely and slightly aggressive decisions, which she certainly does not. It makes Owen’s betrayal even more of a betrayal of the objects, however, as it seems totally apparent that he should have known the objects were intended for Felda and not for Mona.

Considering the character that Owen seems to display towards Felda in their last tryst, I find it totally unlikely that he would never contact her again—especially after the objects are returned…obviously he does eventually, but it takes only a shred of decency to inform her that he is going to marry Mona (or perhaps already has). The whole thing was very confusing.

In terms of the objects, their being returned freed Mrs. G from their power, letting her free to go travel and live a very different life without being attached to them. But for Felda, she wasn’t free until they burned to the ground with Poynton. In the text, she was practically chomping at the bit to get her hands on her one prize object that she could select. This greatest irony was just one more sad story in Felda’s relatively depressing life, unfortunately.