History Literature / TheWestingGame

* SwitchedAtBirth: Discussed, after [[spoiler:Turtle makes herself look like the bomber to protect her sister]], Grace tells her husband that she believes the hospital must have mixed up the children to have ended up with Turtle. Jake actually calls her out on this by suggesting [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal this exact reasoning could've been why she [[spoiler: supposedly made the bombs]] ]].

* SwappedAtBirth: Discussed, after [[spoiler:Turtle makes herself look like the bomber to protect her sister]], Grace tells her husband that she believes the hospital must have mixed up the children to have ended up with Turtle. Jake actually calls her out on this by suggesting [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal this exact reasoning could've been why she [[spoiler: supposedly made the bombs]]]].

* FamousLastWords: When [[spoiler:Sandy]] "[[FakingTheDead drops dead]]" after the reading of the second half of the will, he whispers to Turtle, [[spoiler:"You've been playing the wrong game."]] This prompts Turtle to read the will herself, and discover the ''real'' goal: [[spoiler:"The heir who wins the windfall will be the one who finds the fourth."]]

* RunningGag: Many, such as Dr. Deere incorrectly and/or [[DelusionsOfEloquence sententiously]] diagnosing people's illnesses, Sydelle's crutches, "Boom!", Turtle kicking shins, "Windkloppel"...and almost every one ended up being relevant and important!

* ExactWords: [[spoiler:In Sam Westing's will addressed to the heirs, he says that he didn't die of natural causes but instead "my life was taken -- by one of you!" The heirs all take this to mean that one of them killed Westing, but note that Westing never actually said that he was murdered or even that he's dead -- what he ''really'' meant was that he gave up his life as Sam Westing to become Sandy [=McSouthers=].]]

* TheJudge: Josie-Jo Ford, who in the book is identified as the first female and/or black person elected to a judgeship in the state. And possibly the first black woman to sit on the United States Supreme Court, according to the epilogue.

The book inspired a 1997 TV movie starring Ray Walston and Ashley Peldon.

* MarketBasedTitle: The home video release was renamed ''Get a Clue!''.

* HiddenPurposeTest: The entire will. On the surface it is about giving away the Westing fortune, and claims to be about solving Sam Westing's murder/bringing the killer to justice. In actuality it's testing the heirs to see who is smart enough to figure out not just the obvious clues but the real purpose, ''and'' helping all of the characters to change, grow, and achieve better lives.

%%* DecemberDecemberRomance: [[spoiler:Otis Amber and Crow.]]

%%** Turtle has a very quiet one during the trial.

%%* HiddenPurposeTest: The entire will.

** Otis Amber. A fellow who at first seems to just be a rather ditzy delivery man (or "boy", as he's first introduced even as he's also noted oxymoronically to be an old man), turns out to have HiddenDepths in his love for Crowe and participation in her soup kitchen, then is revealed by Judge Ford to be [[spoiler:a private detective, when she looks one up in the phonebook to investigate the heirs, who also was hired by Barney Northrup to locate all the tenants for Sunset Towers, and ''also'' was hired years ago by Westing himself]].

%%* ChekhovsGunman:
%%** Otis Amber.
%%** [[spoiler:Sandy/Barney Northrup]].

%%* ObfuscatingStupidity:
%%** [[spoiler:Otis Amber]].
%%** [[spoiler:Sandy [=McSouthers=]]].

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: James Hoo eats plenty of chocolate bars during the course of the novel, because of his ulcer.

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Judge Ford has an internal one when she is quizzing [[spoiler: Turtle]] about the planting of the fourth bomb. She correctly deduces that [[spoiler: Turtle]] is protecting someone, and naturally guesses that it's [[spoiler: her older sister Angela. Turtle's extreme denial shocks Ford, and she thinks to herself "Angela couldn't be the bomber, not that pretty young thing"--and then she realizes that she just referred to a ''grown woman'' as a "thing." Ford proceeds to reflect on her--and everyone's--interactions with Angela, and realizes that people treat her like a dressed-up doll, complimenting her on her looks and clothing but never talking to her like a person or peer.]]

%%* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Sam Westing. TWICE]].

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Judge Ford has an internal one when she is quizzing [[spoiler: Turtle]] about the planting of the fourth bomb. She correctly deduces that [[spoiler: Turtle]] is protecting someone, and naturally guesses that it's [[spoiler: her older sister Angela. Turtle's extreme denial shocks Ford, and she thinks to herself "Angela couldn't be the bomber, not that pretty young thing"--and then she realizes that she just referred to a ''grown woman'' as a "thing." Ford proceeds to reflect on her--and everyone's--interactions with Angela, and realizes that everyone treats her like a dressed-up doll, complimenting her on her looks and clothing, but never talking to her like a person or peer.]]

* SpeechImpediment: Because of Chris's neurological disorder, he frequently stutters or has difficulty forming words or complete sentences at all. This sometimes causes others to mistakenly believe that Chris is mentally disabled as well - which is a BerserkButton for his brother Theo.
--> THEO: My brother is not an infant, and he's not retarded, so please, no more baby talk.

* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Subverted; Turtle and Angela seem to be the textbook Smart One and Popular One, respectively, but they're closer to each other and probably understand each other better than anyone else, and [[spoiler:Turtle probably has more friends than Angela, while Angela is very smart herself]]. Turtle is one of the few characters (along with [[spoiler:Pulaski, Ford and Westing]]) who works out that Angela [[spoiler:was the bomber after Angela pulls an about-to-explode bomb away from Turtle and towards her own face]]. Turtle then [[spoiler:claims to be the bomber to protect Angela]] (it helped that everyone else suspected her anyway), going as far as to [[spoiler:plant the fourth bomb]].

* ObfuscatingDisability: Sydelle Pulaski tries this with her crutches in order to get attention, but anyone who pays close attention to her at all realizes that her limp is faked. She also asks Chris Theodorakis, who uses a wheelchair, if he has any ability to use his legs at all - ostensibly to see if he's a [[NeverTheObviousSuspect; possible suspect]] in Westing's death, but actually to draw the normally isolated boy into a conversation he'll enjoy.

* ObfuscatingDisability: Sydelle Pulaski tries this with her crutches in order to get attention, but anyone who pays close attention to her at all realizes that her limp is faked. She also asks Chris Theodorakis, who uses a wheelchair, if he has any ability to use his legs at all - ostensibly to see if he's a [[NeverTheLikelySuspect possible suspect]] in Westing's death, but actually to draw the normally isolated boy into a conversation he'll enjoy.

* ObfuscatingDisability: Sydelle Pulaski tries this with her crutches in order to get attention, but anyone who pays close attention to her at all realizes that her limp is faked. She also asks Chris Theodorakis, who uses a wheelchair, if he has any ability to use his legs at all - ostensibly to see if he's a [[NeverTheLikelySuspect possible suspect]] i Westing's death, but actually to draw the normally isolated boy into a conversation he'll enjoy.

--> THEO: My brother is not an infant, and he's not retarded, so please, no more baby talk."

* BerserkButton: Don't pull Turtle's braid unless you want a good hard kick in the shin.