tom and viv
What was the riddle viv failed about the monkey climbing the pole, or something like that?
shareShe didn't truly fail it -- she knew the answer (remember that she's the one who solved the musical-chairs riddle about the woman's age, plus she has shown her cleverness thruout), but after the long look that passed between her and Tom, she chose to answer incorrectly so she would be institutionalized. (I think she chose institutionalization because, in that moment, she understood that Tom wanted it more than he didn't -- but it could certainly be argued that she chose institutionalization to hurt him -- a sort of "I know what you're up to, you sh-t.")
The riddle itself: A monkey climbs a 10-foot-tall greasy pole. He's able to climb three feet daily, but he slips back two feet daily. How many days will it take him to reach the top? (The answer is 8 days -- at the end of day 7, his net progress is 7 feet; on the 8th day, he climbs 3 more feet, which brings him to the top.)
One reason for the AU's chice of riddle there is to highight the exhausting, repetitive, often fruitless/unrewarding nature of life -- and also to highlight the value of persevering, which Tom does professionally but not personally.
"All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people."
Good point on how she purposely failed the question. I was confused by the long look she and Tom exchanged, now that you've explained it I feel all the more bitter about her fate.
share