Judgement Day Pale Fire Journal Judgement Day Pale Fire Journal | Page 72

final text of Pale Fire had been deliberately and drastically drained of eve-
ry trace of material I contributed.” (1962, p. 81). This harsh language sug-
gests that his feelings toward the late John Shade may have changed.
Perhaps the jury needs to look no further than this direct quote tak-
en from Kinbote’s commentary on John Shade’s poem. “’I will kill him’ I
muttered.” (1962, p. 293). This confession of desire to kill is perhaps one
of the most important things for the jury to consider when looking at the
cause of death.
On the other hand, it is possible that poor John Shade died of nat-
ural causes. He was not devoid of health issues as was mentioned many
times. “…lame and fat, I never bounced a ball or swung a bat.” (1962, p.
37). This shows in John Shade’s own work that he was never as healthy
as could be desired. Even as a child, Shade did not leave an active life-
style. Predictably, this lead to health problems later in his life as well. Kin-
bote mentions many times that John Shade’s heart was not up to the high-
est of standards.
In fact, Kinbote spends a lot of time fretting over the state of his
idol’s heart. Shade describes it as “a limp blimp, an old unstable
heart” (1962, p. 60). The idea that Shade died of natural causes is not a
large jump for the jury to make. Kinbote also talks of how the altitude can
have a negative impact on Shade’s heart. This is important to keep in
mind since Shade and his wife do travel to high altitudes at the end of
Shade’s life. In fact, he dies at a high altitude contributing to the evidence
that he died of natural causes. Kinbote refers to the vacation destination
as “much too high for John’s heart” (1962, p. 182). This is another cause
for concern. Since the altitude is, in Kinbote’s opinion, too high, it is not too
surprising that Shade would experience heart problems. One could also
look at this statement from Kinbote in another way as well. Perhaps, it was
the idea that heart problems could impact Shade that caused Kinbote to
act. Perhaps, he saw the chance to act on frustrations and took it. Of
course, this could also be a coincidence however, that could be how Kin-
bote planned it to look.
[1] The prosecution feels that such a thing is not far stretched. Considering
that Charles Kinbote does not show himself as a humble man in other in-
stances, this should be no different. In addition, Kinbote would most likely
jump at the chance to associate with a higher class than he is given the
chance to in this case. The jury will see that the defense’s client would not
hesitate to boast about his pompous stature.
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