Honestly? This may be a controversial concept, but I am
of the opinion that Joan does not exist.
I believe that while Joan may well embody ‘death’ she is
also the embodiment of the protagonist Jack (and Cheever’s) homosexuality, à la
a certain character exposed in Chuck Palahniuk’s most famous title...
Whenever Joan is beat by her lovers, Jack does nothing
because Jack is BEATING his homosexuality out of his mind – out of his conscious
sight. He is ashamed and does not confront this shame but lets it trail alongside
him, until it catches up with him. His marriages collapse and he ends up living
out of various hotels after the war – on deaths door. At which point he considers Joan (his own
urges) have led to his death and despair.
While I could well be looking into the story too much,
the definition of Torch Song is, ‘a sad or sentimental love song, typically
about unrequited love.’ Jack describes Joan as a, ‘big, handsome girl with a
wonderful voice’ whose face had a gentle beauty. But I couldn’t find
clarification that Joan ever seemed to share an attraction for Jack.
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