Intermezzo: Part 3
Check Mate
Vulnerability & Violence
Intermezzo ends with Peter almost killing Ivan. How did we get here?
Yes, this book is about death. A father dies and leaves behind two sons. But………….it’s also a love story, with a lot of sex scenes: “So close almost already feeling her so wet and her high breathing” (page 52).
Rooney shows love and death are two sides of the same coin. We all end in death, but we all come from sex: “desire, from which all human life derived, the origin of everything” (402).
Throughout the book, the epitome of erotic desire isn’t sex, but being seen by a romantic partner. Take Ivan and Margaret: “looking at her and knowing, yes, without even speaking, what she feels and wants, and knowing that she understands him also, completely” (115). If death is alone, life is together.
The cover of Intermezzo shows the five main characters as chess pieces.
Connection takes vulnerability. For instance, Margaret tells Ivan she needs his love: “Oh, I need that” (402). She risks rejection when she says this, but it also opens the door for Ivan to be honest: “When you told me just now…that you need me to love you…that felt very good…one of the best feelings I’ve probably ever had in my life” (405). Their honesty allows them to connect.
We miss these opportunities if we close ourselves off. Peter avoids vulnerability and fades into an isolated existence akin to death: “my life, it’s like it’s this horrible dream that keeps going on and on, and I can’t wake up.” (327).
Here are excerpts from a scene with Peter. What is happening here? “Sinking feeling…peaceful…like sleep…eyes closed…rests still…not moving” (150).
This is a sex scene! Even sex will feel like death if he doesn’t open up.
Why is Peter so averse to vulnerability?
Years ago, in hysterics after Sylvia’s accident and their break-up, Peter did open up to Ivan. And Ivan rejected him. That scarred Peter and he has been closed off ever since: “It goes back to that, Peter’s behavior, and Ivan’s response, lack of response” (356).
Peter is frustrated by his loneliness, but doesn’t see his role in it: “Why does everyone always have to leave me, why” (321). Like Fleetewood Mac said in Part 1, “open up, everything is waiting for you.” Peter has to open up if he wants connection.
Instead, his frustration builds. All that pent up energy comes out as violence: “Peter feels himself draw back now to put the weight of his body into his foot, ready to slam it into [Ivan’s] ribs, who’s sorry now, you little worm, I’ll fucking kill you” (377).
What stops Peter from slamming that foot down? “[Peter] catches in the eyes a glimpse, eyes looking at him” (377). He sees Ivan looking at him. Finally, Peter is seen by another person. He stops attacking Ivan and leaves immediately.
Ivan’s eyes are a mirror for Peter, and Peter is terrified of who he is. But he isn’t ready to go there yet. He automatically excuses himself, “An overreaction, that’s all,” and blames Ivan, “His fault” (378).
Peter still has one more jump before rock bottom. The next day, he returns to his apartment to find both Naomi and Sylvia waiting for him, and he collapses: “he is dead, dying, or it was all a dream, waking into darkness” (413).
This metaphorical death marks a rebirth for Peter. After he wakes up, he is finally honest: “I’m just trying to be honest for once in my life” (424).
He is open with Naomi, “I thought we were just using each other. But my feelings got involved” (418). His honesty (while a little harsh) allows them to connect, “I love you…I love you, too” (419). Finally, Peter feels seen by another person, “[Naomi] knew of course what he had been thinking, always knows” (419). He feels a moment of blissful connection, like Ivan and Margaret.
Peter also has an honest conversation with Sylvia: “I forgive you, he says, Do you forgive me?” (426).
And in the final pages of the book, he is honest with his brother: “[Dad] would be so proud of you if he were here…He loved you, and I love you” (445). Awww!!!
Gray & Yellow
So, who won this chess match? Desire or convention?
During that final conversation, Peter mentions to Ivan he is “not sure what Margaret would think” of his new two-girlfriend situation, which he calls “a little unconventional” (446). Ivan says, “She’s a really good person…very understanding,” to which Peter answers, “That’s what I’m afraid of” (446).
Peter is thinking on the binary: convention is good, desire is bad. But like Margaret, we can merge the two and respect nuance. I would argue this is the message of the book. Happiness lies in balance, understanding, and openness.
The cover of Intermezzo, US edition.
The cover of Intermezzo is a chessboard, but the checkered squares aren’t black and white—they’re gray and yellow. Black fades to gray and white livens to yellow. I think Rooney shows that for characters to be happy, they have to soften.
This balance isn’t necessarily steady. Who knows how long Ivan and Margaret will stay together or if Peter, Naomi, and Sylvia can make it work. But this openness allows characters to “go on in any case living” (448).
And isn’t that the point? Not to win the chess match…but to enjoy playing it?
This article is Part 3 in a three part series about Intermezzo.
Read Part 1.
Read Part 2.
Read all Sally Rooney articles.
Read all book articles.
Read all articles.
