The Wandering Ghost

This flow follows how Libby’s apparent presence unsettles Bunny and Bunny Junior, while remaining bound to grief and memory.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The First Apparition

The First Apparition A sight by the curtains During sex with River, Bunny sees Libby in her Orange dressing gown, watching from the window. The vision interrupts his dissociation and makes him believe Libby is observing his behavior. Grief enters the body Bunny’s panic unsettles River, but she does not share his understanding of the moment. The apparition turns the dead wife’s absence into a presence Bunny cannot control.

A Child’s Repeated Sightings

A Child’s Repeated Sightings Memory takes visible form Bunny Junior sees a woman in an orange nightdress near the car and later glimpses a similar figure in a café crowd. His visions arise as he tries to hold on to a mother whose face is fading from memory. Uncertainty without dismissal The boy looks up apparition and mirage in The Encyclopaedia, searching for explanations. The definitions do not cancel the emotional reality of his longing.

The Watchful Dead

The Watchful Dead A visitation Bunny anticipates Bunny senses a chill, hears the Starlings, and becomes certain that Libby is in the room by the Bösendorfer Piano. Her imagined accusing presence intensifies his anger and shame. Refusing the encounter Bunny keeps his eyes lowered and leaves with Mrs Brooks’s rings. The episode shows how he experiences grief as accusation while remaining unwilling to answer it honestly.

The Meeting in the Mist

The Meeting in the Mist A reunion in the fog Bunny Junior sees Libby outside the Punto and sits beside her. She tells him she is dead, apologizes for not being strong enough, and affirms that he has a good heart. A child receives direction Libby tells her son to persevere and says Bunny cannot help him because he is lost. Bunny Junior answers that he is the navigator, turning comfort into a promise of self-direction.

The Last Farewell

The Last Farewell A final conversation Bunny sees Libby among the crowd and asks her forgiveness. She tells him that she never haunted him, separating his guilt-driven visions from her actual presence. Love without rescue Libby says Bunny Junior will be all right, then disappears into the crowd. The exchange gives Bunny tenderness but does not remove the consequences of his life or prevent his death.

The morning after Libby’s funeral

During the first days of the sales trip

At Mrs Brooks’s home

After Bunny visits his dying father

At Butlins after Bunny’s public confession