ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the conundrum that is Ripley from several interlinking perspectives. A reading of Tom's watching attitude, in contrast to other heroes' waiting mode, leads into a consideration of Patricia Highsmith's philosophical influences, while at the same time arguing that he, of all her leading men, is both essential to and for the continuation of her writing, yet remaining just beyond her grasp. The chapter is entitled Tom Ripley: The Sinthome Writes Back that already utilised Jacques Lacan's concept of the sinthome throughout the reading of Highsmith's work. Ripley kept her going, allowing her to bring her own singularity as an artist to the forefront throughout both the Ripley novels and the rest of her oeuvre without becoming stuck within a format. The chapter concludes abruptly with Tom, instead of internalising and exhibiting shame or conflict concerning the mirror scene, developing further his mimetic relation to Dickie, now capturing the verbal after his already perfect appropriation of the visual.
