receive the messages
You got my messages.Can You Ever Forgive Me? · 2018 — 第 9 / 14 章 · 3'02" · B2
Alan Uses the FBI to Extort Lee, Explained：wear a wire
Alan calls Lee in for a favor that turns into a shakedown. He says the FBI asked him to wear a wire — "They asked me to wear a wire" — but swears he refused and would even lie as a witness. Then he names his price: $5,000, or she can figure it out herself.
あらすじ
Alan Schmidt, a book dealer, summons Lee and tells her the FBI has been to see him. They wanted him to wear a wire against her; he says he refused and would lie rather than testify. But his loyalty has a price: $5,000. When Lee says she does not have it, he tells her to figure it out.
注目の表現
wear a wirerat someone outgenerous of youfigure it out
00:00 / 03:02Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
このシーンの表現
wear a wire
carry a hidden recorder
Alan tells Lee the FBI wanted him to record their talk with a hidden device.
The agent asked him to wear a wire to the meeting.
このシーンの他の表現
- rat someone out
inform on someone
- generous of you
how kind of you (sarcastic)
- figure it out
work it out yourself
- go through something
search through something
- up on
well informed about
このシーンのメモ一覧
61 行のセリフに 31 件のメモ
my reason for calling
Not why I called.carry a hidden recorder
Alan tells Lee the FBI wanted him to record their talk with a hidden device.
They asked me to wear a wire.treat someone that way
I'm not gonna do that to you. I'm a good guy.Do that to you runs together almost like do-tha-to-ya.
I'm not gonna do that to you. I'm a good guy.conditional clause: The if-clause sets up a hypothetical about testifying, left hanging for effect.
And if they want me to be a witness...give someone money
But you're gonna pay me $5,000.Going to reduces to gonna before pay.
But you're gonna pay me $5,000.going to — Everyday speech; avoid it in formal writing.
But you're gonna pay me $5,000.inform on someone
Even as he demands money, Alan swears he will not turn Lee in, mixing a threat with comfort.
Well, come on, I'm not gonna rat you out or anything.Rat you out links up, with the t sliding into you.
Well, come on, I'm not gonna rat you out or anything.inform on you — Casual and negative; used of informing on someone.
Well, come on, I'm not gonna rat you out or anything.work it out yourself
When Lee says she has no money, Alan pushes the problem back with a curt command.
Figure it out.search through something
The young seller spins a story about finding the letters while clearing out her grandmother's closet.
And I discovered these when I was going through her closet and wondered if they might be of interest to you or not.interesting to someone
And I discovered these when I was going through her closet and wondered if they might be of interest to you or not.well informed about
The seller pretends to know nothing about literature, putting Lee at ease.
I guess I'm not really up on all these things.have some value
I don't know any of the people in them, but I feel they must be worth something.each
Yeah. I could give you $50 a piece.don't take this badly
The seller softens her rejection of Lee's offer with a warning before naming a higher price.
No offense, but a store in Brooklyn offered me $200 for one.the outer boroughs
I hate the boroughs.return money to someone
Jack earns money selling letters, and Lee jokes it will repay the man with his own cash.
You just got closer to paying back that asshole with his own money.get to pattern: Get closer to takes a gerund, meaning a step nearer to doing something.
You just got closer to paying back that asshole with his own money.a jerk — A crude insult; never use it in polite company.
You just got closer to paying back that asshole with his own money.suspect something
- Was he suspicious? - Oh, hell, no.no way — A casual intensifier; too rough for formal speech.
- Was he suspicious? - Oh, hell, no.emphatic do: The auxiliary did adds emphasis, insisting the wish was always there.
I always did want to be an actor. Here.idiot — An insult for someone foolish; use with care.
- Isn't that what I said? - No, moron.the words you used
It's not what you said.not have a clue
and you don't even know what it is you're selling.cleft structure: The cleft what it is you're selling stresses the very thing she fails to understand.
and you don't even know what it is you're selling.do something wrong
Caught skimming, Jack admits he made a mistake and tries to close the subject.
I made a mistake.「Alan Uses the FBI to Extort Lee」を読み解く
What's really going on
Alan knows exactly what he is doing. He opens with reassurance — "I'm not gonna do that to you. I'm a good guy" — and then puts a number on his silence. The wire story works whether or not it is entirely true: it makes Lee afraid, and fear is the point. "But you're gonna pay me $5,000" turns a favor into a transaction, and "Figure it out" leaves her with no escape. The scene shows how Lee's crimes have shifted the balance around her: people who once sold her books now see a chance to cash in, and she can only keep going deeper to pay them off.
Theme
MoneyAlan turns his silence into a price tag, demanding $5,000 before he will keep quiet about Lee.
BetrayalA man who claims to be a good guy uses the threat of the FBI to extort the friend he refuses to inform on.
このチャプターで学べること
- A threat can wear the mask of a friendly warning.
- Refusing to inform on someone is itself a bargaining chip.
- Quiet sarcasm can shut down an outrageous demand.
- A fake story often opens with an ordinary detail like a closet.
発音のポイント
- do that to you — Do that to you runs together almost like do-tha-to-ya.
- gonna pay — Going to reduces to gonna before pay.
- rat you out — Rat you out links up, with the t sliding into you.
They asked me to wear a wire.The news that drives the scene: the FBI wants Alan to record Lee, making his silence something he can sell.
You just got closer to paying back that asshole with his own money.Encouragement that every forged letter sold brings her closer to settling a debt using the buyer's own cash.
I always did want to be an actor. Here.A dry joke about a talent for impersonation, attached to money that the performance earned.
No offense, but a store in Brooklyn offered me $200 for one.Lee's bargaining line, softening a high demand with a polite disclaimer to push the dealer's price up.
I'm really good at this.Unguarded pride in her own talent after the sale — the con and the craft are the same thing to her.
このシーンについての質問
Why does Alan want $5,000?
He has been approached by the FBI and asked to wear a wire against Lee. He offers to stay quiet and lie for her, but only if she pays him for it.
Does Alan really refuse to wear a wire?
He says he will not do it and would lie as a witness, but nothing in the scene proves it. The threat is what he is really selling.
Why doesn't Lee just refuse to pay?
Without the money, her only other option is Alan turning her in. His line "Figure it out" makes clear he expects her to find the cash some other way.
Why is Lee selling forged letters to dealers?
She needs money quickly — both to survive and to pay Alan. The forged letters are her way of turning a talent for imitation into income.
What happens to Lee after this?
The demand pushes her to sell more forgeries and pull others into the scheme, which eventually draws the FBI closer to her.
ある女流作家の罪と罰 · 全 14 章
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次のチャプター · 第 10 章talk someone off the ledgeLee Visits Her Ex Elaine
第 1 章a dead giveawayLee Meets Jack Hock
第 2 章play the gameLee Asks to Be Paid in Cash
第 3 章Spill the beansLee Tells Jack Her Secret
第 4 章caustic witLee Confesses Her Forgeries to Jack
第 5 章do your homeworkLee Learns About Fake Signatures
第 6 章a real museum pieceLee Forges Dorothy Parker Letters
第 7 章the real thingLee Meets Anna at the Bar
第 8 章street smartsLee Takes In a Beaten Jack
再生中 · 第 9 章wear a wireAlan Uses the FBI to Extort Lee
第 10 章talk someone off the ledgeLee Visits Her Ex Elaine
第 11 章freeze someone outLee Tells Jack They're Not Friends
第 12 章turn over a new leafLee Refuses to Apologize at Sentencing
第 13 章too much of a cowardLee Is Sentenced to Probation
第 14 章like hell I willLee and Jack's Last Meeting第 9 / 14 章 · 残り約 14 分