blah b b blah wrote: > > It's a DANGEROUS thing to try to Explain to an English Prof a story > he/she didn't "get," but I guess I can tell you what I "got" out of it... > :) > > It's the With Love and Squalor thing. You need to contrast the > inconsiderate boorishness of the man visiting Sgt. X, and the violent > aftereffects of War upon Sgt. X, with Esme's charm, consideration, and, > above all else, love. She saved him by sending him that watch. It was > nothing more than saying, "you mean something to me," when everyone else > -- the whole world, in fact -- was saying, "your feelings and life are > meaningless." > > Esme was an oasis of love and civility in the middle of a WW II > battlefield. > > Jim > > Thanks Jim--I do appreciate your analysis--beautifully written. But I still can't feel the magic :( I am surprised by own lack of compassion for these characters. I promise to give the story another read this summer. I'm not sure I "felt the magic" of Catcher upon the first reading either. But now Teddy is another matter. . . -- M.E. Pierce Dept. of English, SFASU http://TITAN.SFASU.EDU/~f_pierceme/ "I loaf and invite my soul. . ." Uncle Walt