Talk:The Odd Tale of Jim Olivine/@comment-30994599-20190123132611/@comment-30994599-20190124095329

To answer your question, I feel like there should be just a little bit more buildup to the ending. Perhaps the clown could somehow reach out to him and make him question whose side he should be on, if any. Personally, I'd add a third oddity into the mix to further screw with both Olivine and the reader and create a catalyst for a descent into reclusion. You mentioned falling down the stairs being a possibility, and I actually think that would be genius, seeing as how it was already used as a coverup for how Claude's mother really died. How about this: Olivine is bombarded on all sides by surreality, and slowly isolates himself from the world, convincing himself that he is the only "sane" one left. His neighbors begin to suspect something is wrong with him, and evidence appears to make him think he is a madman. (Maybe have clown's cats disappear again.) He desperately tries to prove to them he is normal, but this only raises more suspicion. Ultimately, he is confronted by everyone he knows at once, leading to him being backed into a corner (or a staircase in this case), and he falls and dies. I feel like that would leave much more of an impact. It's never too late to make adjustments!