The Other
Only one other living person comes to the House. He is polite, helpful and always in a hurry. How do you decide whether to trust someone who is the only person you know?
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- Think of someone who was helpful to you but whom you slowly stopped trusting. What changed?
- What do you look at first when you decide whether to believe someone: what they say, what they do, or how they say it?
- Can a person be kind and controlling at the same time? Give an example.
The vocabulary of this story
Ten items. Say your answer out loud before you reveal it.
A · What do they mean here? Work it out from the context
Read the sentence, guess the meaning of the word in bold, then reveal.
B · Which term means…?
Three terms: read between the lines · take at face value · keep an eye on. Say the right one, then reveal.
C · Which word completes all three phrases?
One missing word fits every phrase in the group. Say it, then reveal.
Now use them — out loud
- Who in your life do you trust completely? What did they do to earn it?
- When did you read between the lines and find a message nobody had stated?
- Do you take people at face value or do you usually look for a hidden motive?
The story, in three parts
Read each part. After it, answer the quick check from memory, then discuss one question.
Part 1 — The only visitor
For the narrator, the Other is not only a person. He is the connection to everything outside the narrator's own routine. He brings small supplies and news of the search he is engaged in, and he tells Piranesi what is useful, what is not, and what he should or should not do.
The Other is courteous, but there is something slightly cold under the courtesy. He gives instructions as if they were requests. He seems pleased when Piranesi is cheerful and puzzled when he is not.
The narrator describes him fairly and with obvious respect. It takes the reader some time to ask whether that respect has been earned.
1. What does the Other bring?
2. How does he behave?
3. What does the reader wonder?
1. Small supplies, news of his search, and advice on what Piranesi should do.
2. Courteous, but slightly cold; he gives instructions as if they were requests.
3. Whether the narrator's respect for him has been earned.
- Think of a relationship in which one person decides what the other needs to know. How can you tell when it is helpful and when it is control?
Part 2 — Small signs
Little things begin to accumulate. The Other's explanations are tidy, perhaps too tidy. He answers some questions at length and avoids others. He worries aloud about Piranesi's health and sometimes says that he is not quite himself, which has the effect of making Piranesi doubt his own judgement.
The narrator notices this in his own way. He does not accuse anyone. He records, compares and waits. What changes is the kind of question he writes in his notes: not only what happened but who told him so.
This is the point at which the book becomes a quiet kind of thriller. Nothing explodes. The tension comes from tone and from the gap between what is said and what is done.
1. How does the Other answer questions?
2. What does he say about Piranesi's health?
3. Where does the tension come from?
1. At length on some, and he avoids others.
2. That Piranesi is not quite himself, which makes him doubt his own judgement.
3. From tone, and from the gap between what is said and what is done.
- Have you ever been told you were not quite yourself by someone who gained from your doubt? How did you decide what to believe?
Part 3 — Choosing whom to believe
Eventually signs appear that the Other is not the only person in the House, and the narrator has to choose between competing accounts of who is trustworthy. He does not simply swap one belief for another. He tests things in small ways, watches what people do and compares it with what they said.
That, in the end, is the book's idea of trust: not a feeling but a habit of paying attention. It also makes the novel a good one to discuss in a group, because readers disagree about how much the narrator should have noticed and when.
Whichever side you take, it is worth asking what exactly made you trust or distrust each person, and how soon.
1. What does the narrator do when he has to choose?
2. What is the book's idea of trust?
3. Why is it good to discuss in a group?
1. He tests things in small ways and compares what people do with what they said.
2. Not a feeling but a habit of paying attention.
3. Because readers disagree about how much he should have noticed and when.
- At what point did you start to trust or distrust each person in the book? What was the first thing that changed your mind?
How the tool works
You can use the same habit the narrator develops. The Trust Check is a loop of four moves for deciding how far to believe someone: listen to what they say, watch what they do, ask what it costs them, and test a small thing.
Using it, step by step
- Listen: note exactly what was said, not what you assumed. He said it would take a week.
- Watch: compare it with what happens. It has now taken a month, and he has not mentioned it.
- Ask what it costs them: who gains if you believe this, and who loses? If I believe him, he keeps control of the schedule.
- Test: check one small thing that you can verify. If it holds, trust a little more. If not, trust a little less. Never decide on one test.
Try it yourself
Each sentence describes something a person might do in a relationship of trust. Which move of the Trust Check does it belong to?
1. Listen — it records the statement itself.
2. Watch — it compares what is said with what is done.
3. Ask what it costs — it looks for the interest behind the words.
4. Test — a small, checkable step.
5. Watch — behaviour versus statement.
6. Listen — it focuses on what was actually said.
7. Ask what it costs — it weighs gain and loss.
8. Test — a simple way to check reliability.
Where the tool breaks
Do not become a detective in every relationship. Most people most of the time deserve a little trust. Use the check when something does not add up.
One test is not enough. A single lie can be a mistake; a pattern is information.
Your own motives matter too. Sometimes we want to believe, or to doubt. Ask what you want to be true.
- Which move do you tend to skip, and what has it cost you?
- Is it possible to trust someone and also check what they say?
Its cousins
Language — Reading between the lines
To talk about what is implied and not stated, English has a handful of structures that make careful, polite and precise judgements.
1. Choose the verb
Complete each sentence with the best verb from the box. Use each once: implied · suggested · hinted · sounded.
1. She never said it directly, but she that he should leave.
2. It as if he was hiding something.
3. He at a problem without saying what it was.
4. The report that the figures had been changed.
1. implied — meaning not stated openly
2. sounded — sounded as if
3. hinted — hinted at something
4. suggested — suggested that
2. Soften the claim
Rewrite each sentence with the hedge in brackets.
1. He was lying. (I get the impression that)
2. She wanted to help. (It may be that)
3. They knew about the problem. (Perhaps)
4. He seemed kind. He ignored her question. (although)
1. I get the impression that he was lying.
2. It may be that she wanted to help.
3. Perhaps they knew about the problem.
4. Although he seemed kind, he ignored her question.
Now describe someone you do not fully trust, in four sentences. Use one implied or suggested, one hedge and one although.
Speak
Choose a task, start the timer and talk. On your own it works as a talk; with a partner or a group, take turns and respond to each other.
Think of the people in the book. Whom would you have trusted at the start, and why? Use the Trust Check to explain.
Think of a recent decision where you had to decide whether to believe someone, a salesperson, a colleague, a website. Take us through the four moves.
Describe a person you know, or one from a book or a film, who is kind and controlling at the same time. How can you tell? Where would you draw the line?
To finish — the harder questions
- Is it better to trust too much or too little? Why?
- The narrator accepts a lot without asking. What would you have asked first?
- How can you test someone's honesty without damaging the relationship?
- From memory: explain the Trust Check in five sentences, using read between the lines, motive and I get the impression that.