The Key To Midnight Journal Entry: Three

So far, there have been a lot of important passages in The Key To Midnight but I think the most important one I've read thus far, was one found on page 245.


Joanna took a deep breath. "I see midnight. The most perfect midnight imaginable. Silky. Almost liquid. A fluid midnight sky runs all the way to the earth on all sides, sealing everything up tight, melting like tar over the whole world, over everything that comes before, over everywhere I've been and everything I've done and everything I've seen. No stars at all. Flawless blackness. Not a speck of light. And not a sound either. No wind. No odors. The earth itself is black. All darkness on all sides. Blackness is the only thing, and it goes on forever."

"No," Inamura said. "That's not true. Twenty years of your life will begin to unfold around you. It's starting to happen even as I speak. You see it now, a world coming to life all around you."

"Nothing."

"Look closer, Joanna. It may not be easy to see at first, but it's all there. I've given you the key to your past."

"You've only given me the key to midnight," Joanna said. A new despair echoed in her voice.

"The key to the past," Inamura insisted.

"To midnight," she said miserably. "A key to darkness and hopelessness. I am nobody. I am nowhere. I'm alone. All alone. I don't like it here."


I feel like this is a very important passage in this novel because not only does it refrence the title, but it also lets you in on how Joanna feels, having been brainwashed for an unknown reason, and now missing twenty years of her life from memory. You get a look into how much she doesn't know, how much she doesn't feel, and how alone she truly is because she had her past taken away from her, her present thrust upon her, and her future choosen for her.

This conversation took place during a hypnosis session, Inamura tried to delve deeper into the unknown, learn more about who the man with the steel hand was and why he had kidnapped Joanna. Joanna has begun to remember many things about what happened to her and she's learned to overcome memory blocks put in place, but she still has no recollection of Lisa Chelgrin, her former self.

Not only is this one of the most important passages so far in The Key To Midnight, it is also one of my favorites. I love the way Joanna described the perfect midnight, in a beautiful and thrilling, yet frightening way.