Parlor Games as Symbolic Cues To someone in Lanza’s mental state, parlor games might not have been innocent social rituals. They could have represented: A facade of normalcy: Adults pretending everything is fine while children suffer. Mockery of innocence: If he believed children were being violated, seeing adults laugh and play could have felt grotesque — like they were celebrating while ignoring horror. Coded behavior: In a delusional framework, even benign actions can take on sinister meaning. He may have interpreted these games as part of a ritualistic or symbolic system of abuse.