The Westing Game

Sam Westing requires his heirs to sign both of the letters he sends them inviting them to his mansion. Not only are their signatures required, but they must also write their “position.” The first time they are asked, a lot of them fumble with the request, and it is clear that this seemingly simple request comes with the pressure of defining oneself in a word. Grace promotes herself from “housewife” to “decorator” to “heiress,” while Angela simply pens “none,” which later confuses her fiancé, who thinks she wrote “nun.” In indicating the characters’ views of themselves, the signatures are a motif that develops the theme of Appearances as a (Non)indication of the Self.

By the second time the letters arrive, serious events have taken place that have provoked self-reflection in characters who felt otherwise undefined. Angela is now a “person,” Crow is a “mother,” and Chris is an “ornithologist.” By this second time they are called upon to give their positions, they know that whatever they write will be read in front of all the heirs in the Westing mansion and have come to realize that their classifications of themselves radiate outward, influencing how they are perceived by the world.

A subplot of The Westing Game involves items stolen or lost from apartments, some of which Mrs. Hoo takes so that she can travel to China. This motif epitomizes the unexpected depths that each character contains as well as the tendency of others to overlook that complexity. The heirs are so preoccupied with attempting to win that they do not care when Hoo confesses. The intense shame and guilt she feels goes unexamined by the other characters, who only witness a glimpse of the emotion she’s been carrying since moving into Sunset Towers. Unrelated to the main storyline, the subplot also illustrates the novel’s absurdist qualities, which rationality only goes so far toward explaining.