HIGHACRES COLLEGIA!!
LOOKING INTO THE LOOKING GLASS
Have you ever looked into a looking
glass and wondered if there were someone
in some country who had features identical
to yours? What would you do if you went
into some building in a strange country
and sat next to a person who could pass
as your twin? Daphne du Maurier, in the
novel, The Scapegoat, uses this situation
as the starting point in her mystery
novel.
John who has no surname is an English
man who is touring France, He has estab
lished no social contacts with people and
is on the verge of entering a monastery.
In a bar in Le Mans he meets a man who is
his physical double, Jean de Gue. The
Comte de Gue is anxious to leave his
environment and the complex situations
which crowd his everyday life. For
example, he has a sister who hasn't spoken
to him for fifteen years, a ten-year-old
daughter who has symptoms of being a
saint, and a mysteriously bedridden mother
who casually expects him to arrange his
wif's death.
The Comte de Gue drugs John and takes
all his identifications and clothes and
vanishes, John, the Englishman, after
awakening, plays his role in the masquer
ade, only to discover that Jean de Gue
is selfish, destructive, almost loathsome.
He also makes a devastating self-discovery
he and Jean are not only physical doubles
but also personality doubles.
Daphne du Maurier unravels the plot in
such a manner .that the reader never doubts
the fact that an impostor of a completely
different cultural background is accepted
by everyone nearest to the original man,
and that each can speak the other's
language with no accent and can write the
other's signature after a moment's practice.
A depiction of rural French life is
presented and the threads of the mystery
novel become more tangled., ■ During the
Easter Vacation when the luxury of a few
spare minutes can be enjoyed by college
students a good novel is always welcomed.
Daphne du Maurier has written an excellent
novel that completely fills the bill.
—Mimi Arlotto
yhe Scapegpat by Daphne du Maurier
New York: Doubleday and Company
CAN YOU IMAGINE
PROFESSOR STEEL smoking a pipe
JOHN ZOLTAK with a white beard
MARY MERKER weighing 200 pounds
MRS. BODENSTEIN with a French accent
THE ENGINEERS AND LIBERAL ARTS STUDENTS
not arguing over who has the "zip" course
CAPTAIN HARM.an airman Jrd class
CONNIE walking through the lounge with
out being seen
THE ENGINEERS taking music as a required
course.
MR. WILCOX driving a new "caddie"
THE RIFLE TEAM beating an opposing team
THE PENN STATE RIFLE TEAM using real
bullets and shooting at Elvis Presley
BARBARA NARDINI seven feet tall
BOBBY PETRUSKA bowling 200
SMOKING in the class rooms
NO DEMERIT CARDS FOR R.O.T.C. CADETS
PROFESSOR KAFKA teaching a "How to read
a comics course"
MR. MCKIN3TRY playing in the Benny
Goodman band
1 GARBRICK playing "bop" records in
music classes.
LIBRARY FULL OF COMIC BOOKS
GROOMS WITH LOUNGE CHAIRS
BEER IN THE COFFEE MACHINE
THE STUDENTS OF THE SPANISH AND GERMAN
CLASSES HAVING INTERPRETERS
PAGE FIVE
—George Opilla