Summary

Elf leaves her life insurance money to Yoli. Yoli decides to use the money to buy a house. She devotes her time to fixing the new house. Oddly enough, the house Yoli chooses is a tear down in a bad part of town near a polluted lake. Yoli uses the renovation project to try and deal with her anger at her sister and the hospital over Elf’s death.

Analysis

The state of the house is a metaphor for Yoli’s state of mind. Yoli feels that her life is falling apart and that everyone she loves dies on her. The system is a failure for not helping Elf or at least stopping her from killing herself. At the same time, Yoli doesn’t really believe Elf could be stopped indefinitely from killing herself. She feels guilty for not taking Elf to Switzerland and...