SLSL "TSR"

[Dave Meury]

It occurs to me that whether or not it is possible that individuals at a
Louisiana Army base in the late '50s could be unaware of a hurricane
hitting the state, or whether Virginians pronounce "out" as "oot," these
elements in the case of this story constitute weaknesses.

Consider a story in which a character wins the lottery, squanders the
money, is faced with ruin, realizes his/her failings, then miraculously
wins the lottery again.  Unless this is a blatant retelling of the
prodigal son parable, most readers would call it bad writing.  It
doesn't help that, in fact, there have been instances in which people
have won the lottery more than once.

On the matter of the Virginian pronunciation of "out," I think it does
not ring true with most readers, even if it is accurate (I do not know).

I also found it odd that little Buttercup is never given a real name in
the story.  Also, while I have never seen or read the play, HMS
Pinafore, a summary tells me that it involves a case of mistaken
identity and of class differences.  This seems promising but do the
contents of the play "count"? or is it a stretch in relation to TSR.  If
there is a connection, the fact that Levine sleeps with Buttercup hits a
wrong note since she is an old woman in the play.

A couple of odds and ends:

I submit that the baseball cap is emblematic of boyhood.  I also think
the swamp is an apt setting for the love scene in its significance as a
symbol of both fecundity and death.

Also, there was a Fort Roach.  The military took over the Hal Roach
studios in California to make training and propaganda films.  Ronald
Reagan worked there (now that ought to ring the old Pavlovian bell for
some listers).