“a key to an empty property”

“A key to an empty property” is Connell’s image for the emotional hold he has cultivated over Marianne: an access he has kept available despite the pain and confusion between them. It makes his attachment more complicated than a wish to help or protect her, exposing his investment in remaining someone she cannot simply forget.

The Image and Its Meaning

Connell recognizes that he has long understood his influence over Marianne. Since school, he has noticed how she responds to his gaze and touch, becoming still as if she expects an instruction. He describes this power as an “effortless tyranny” that sits uneasily beside Marianne’s apparent invulnerability to other people. The key image gives that imbalance a material form: he has retained access to a place that is empty, but still available for future use.

Recognition of Responsibility

The metaphor is not presented as an innocent accident of their history. Connell admits that he has cultivated his hold over Marianne and has been unable to reconcile himself to losing it. His recognition complicates the immediate disagreement between them: a factual account of what happened that night would omit the larger history of power and expectation shaping their response. The key therefore signifies not simply intimacy, but Connell’s awareness that he has helped preserve an unequal emotional arrangement.

The Prospect of Separation

After recognizing this hold, Connell considers what it would mean for them to be nothing to one another. He believes that even a glance outside a lecture hall could not contain nothing, and acknowledges that he has never truly wanted Marianne to forget him. The image’s force lies in this contradiction: the property is empty, yet the key remains. Their future is uncertain, but Connell still wants to retain a place in Marianne’s inner life, a desire he identifies as the part of himself he most wants to protect.