The Westing Game Chris Theodorakis Quotes

This is a question any of the characters could ask – really, it's a question any of us readers could ask too – but it's especially poignant coming from Chris, who will always be in a wheelchair. At this point in the novel, he's still imprisoned by his body, to the point where he can't always control his speech or his movements, and he worries that his medical condition has deprived him of the chance to create an identity that wouldn't suffer from these medical, physical, and financial burdens.

Here we have competing stories. Theo shares his with Chris using elaborate combinations of words, and Chris recognizes this as proof of Theo's future career. He hesitates to "spoil" Theo's ideas by relating what he knows really happened. In a way, though, the story Chris doesn't tell is just as out there and spooky. As the silent watcher, Chris knows more about what the real story of what's happening over in the Westing house than aspiring writer Theo does. He may be shy, too, about the fact that (at this point) he can't communicate his version of the story with the ease and ability that Theo can.

This moment shows us the separations there can be between language in thoughts and language in speech, as well as in understanding different kinds of speech. Chris's medical condition keeps him from articulating ideas in ways some people can understand, but we know from the text's POV/narrative voice that he has very articulate inner thoughts. While we know the reason Theo's able to interpret Chris's speech – he's had plenty of practice as a caregiver – we don't know Flora's. We'll find out later that she had a disabled daughter, but for now this just creates a sense of mystery around her character.

When you consider how many other wrong answers are spouted off by other characters and quickly forgotten or tossed aside, it's tempting to pay more attention to Chris's "recitation" because he's worked so hard on it. More than any other description, this passage really points out the cruelty of his condition and the courage of his spirit. Can you imagine working for hours just to articulate one sentence? How much do we admire Chris for that?

Well, it's hardly the moral parents or responsible adults probably want us to be pulling from this text, but it seems to us that on very rare occasions, lying and deceit can lead to positive outcomes.

Through the entire charade that is the Westing game, full of lies, tricks, and suspicion, Westing has the opportunity to make good things happen for each of the sixteen heirs he selects. (If Sandy had been a real person with a real family, playing the game would've helped him too.) Chris is one of the few people astute enough to see how Westing's idea to pair people off has helped them get a real, true prize: making friends.