New Title for Roman Fever

When I was reading Roman Fever, I was actively looking out for the connection between the title and the story, and figured out that it was a minor detail. It was a period of time where people got sick during Ms. Slade and Ms. Ansley’s young adulthood, where some things happened that neither person knew about. While I thought it was a creative title, I didn't feel like it has really captured the essence of the story. The story focuses more on the true feelings that Ms. Slade and Ms. Ansley have towards each other and the truth behind why they have those feelings. It focused more on their “friendship” and how it evolved to become that way.




If I were to choose a title for Roman Fever, it would be What Lies Beneath the Surface. The reason for that is because both Ms. Slade and Ms. Ansley thought that they were keeping a secret from each other, therefore one of them had the upper hand, when in reality those secrets were intertwined in a really messy way. They both put up a fake front towards each other, keeping the truth beneath their facade. The fact that they are able to stay “friends” for that long surprised me because the things that they kept from each other were unbelievable, it would destroy any friendship.




What is interesting though is that it didn’t take long for them to let everything out. After Ms. Slade said that she was the one that wrote the letter to Ms. Ansley instead of her late husband, everything came spilling out. Just one crack in their facade, and everything fell apart. The reason for that being is that they were holding in some much from each other, that it was bound to come out eventually. It was just beneath the surface.