MovieChat Forums > The Girl in a Swing (1989) Discussion > Green tortoise!?

Green tortoise!?

posted 16 years ago by m-anbar
6 replies | jump to latest

so whats with the green tortoise?

[–] marianp1 15 years ago

POSSIBLE SPOILER

POSSIBLE SPOILER

POSSIBLE SPOILER

I didn't see the movie, because it just sounded so bad.

But in the book, the green tortise is the child's favorite toy

[–] Rascar-Capac 15 years ago

ONCE AGAIN POSSIBLE SPOILER!

Not exactly. In the book it is indicated, that it’s a special toy Karin bought, as part of her desperate plan to kill her child. She not even got rid of the receipt, which was found by Alan later. I think she used the tortoise, to lure the child into deep water, where it drowned.

[–] artisticengineer 15 years ago

Thank you for explaining this! I have seen the movie a couple of times (in theater and on VHS) but neither version really mentions the significance of the green tortoise. All we see is Karin freaking out when Alan mentions it to her.

[–] bron-tay 8 years ago

It sure was brilliant of her to throw an insane fit over the one item that ties her to a murder she committed.

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Please put some dashes above your sig line so I won't think it's part of your dumb post.

[–] stevenrjohnson 15 years ago

Symbolically, it represents Desland himself, who is in the process of coming out of his shell. As a ceramics dealer, he is identified with shellfish at other times in the film and book and is introduced, in fact, emerging from behind a plate he's considering buying.

[–] cherylelliotrn-89956 8 years ago

That's clever. The book does a great job of describing Alan's consternation over the tortoise incident. After he concedes that he mistook a green cushion for a toy tortoise, he can't help asking himself,"But why did I think I saw a tortoise in the first place?" And Karin says exactly the same thing when he tries to calm her down.

In the book, by the way, the toy store receipt is dated the week before Christmas, while Alan and Karin don't meet until May, so it was just a regular gift, not purchased to lure the kid into the water.