The Last September

The novel and movie are radically different versions of the Bowen vision. The question each tries to answer is what happens when a society in the grey area between two opposing political forces dies. In the novel, Bowen frees Lois to break from tradition while still being shielded by tradition. In the movie, Lois is the one who has the love affair portrayed as rape by Peter. It is really confusing especially when Peter appears to force himself then she goes to see him later. The violence of the Troubles in Ireland is much more evident in the movie than the novel version as well. Most of the violence is politely avoided at the tennis parties in the novel, but there are brutal scenes depicting the animosity between native Irish inhabitants and English soldiers.

The deeper thread I see in both versions is the answer of what happens to the vanishing class that served as a bridge for hundreds of years. The movie implies they will be violently separated as the new order establishes itself. The novel leaves the more expressionistic vision of the society slowly dissolving into the last September which is almost a fairy tale ending to the novel. Lois is the key. What she decides for herself indicates which world will end and which will march bravely into the future.