Living in Kazakhstan and now Chicago I feel connected to Frozen’s Elsa “The cold never bothered me anyway”, I would yell out walking over to the bus stop while freezing Lake Michigan wind tried to find any uncovered skin. There is something sinister about “cold”; even saying the word makes one shiver. Cold is unforgiving-if you forget a hat or gloves then you’re SOL. Cold is desolate and lonely-how many people outside do you see in the middle of winter? But can cold be evil or can cold be fake?
Merry, in the last chapters of the book becomes obsessed with the temperature both outside and inside the coffee shop. Initially the coffee shop is warm, toasty, steamy. After reading the email exchange between her father and the baptist(in which it is alluded that her father killed the family), she actually becomes too hot and asks the barista to turn the heat down, but he can’t. The temperature changes significantly after Merry tells of her possible involvement in the murder of her family. It becomes cold in the coffee shop. After being questioned more about what happened with her family, Merry doesn’t want to talk anymore. The most striking part about the entire scene is when she walks over to the door, blaming the cold on the door not being fully shut by the couple that entered a little bit ago. Both Merry and Rachel, however, noticed the cold way before the couple came, thus the cold wasn’t the door’s fault. The last sentence of the book also mentions that it was cold enough in the coffee shop that Merry’s breath was a visible mist.
In her blog, Merry/Karen also make big of temperature during the exorcism. She argued that the window was open in Marjorie’s room explaining the dropping temperature and visible breath. The “live” shots of the thermometer dropping is to trick the audience into believing that there is an actual demon present in the room. The two scenes are paralleled due to the fact of the ajar window or door. Merry has a reason for both occasions as to why it is cold inside. This could have two meanings: that there is something evil or otherworldly present in both the exorcism and after Merry’s confession; or that Merry is lying about her involvement in the murder. As Merry herself pointed out, the window and the cold is a trick or a lie could she be suggesting through the door and the the cold in the coffee shop that her story is a lie? Thus, cold is either fake or evil.
The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway. Perf. Idina Menzel. YouTube. TOZChatPanel, 23 Dec. 2013. Web. 9 Feb. 2017. <The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway>.