ATDDTA (3): Control issues, Chums, They

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

Joseph T:
"I think it is tempting to leave the chums as eternally naive but  I  
think that by the end of the novel they have profoundly changed. They  
have found feminine counterparts. They have become freelancers. They  
have become aware of the potential of betrayal by those who pose as  
the good guy authorities. They have become either a much larger  
reality or a much larger dream.  Thy may remain child like, but they  
are no longer childish, no longer anybody's boys."

I would say that by the end of the novel, the Chums are essentially 
Anarchists, that the values expoused on the final pages of AtD are 
the core values of Anarchy: " . . . .where any wish that can be made 
is at least addressed, if not always granted. . . ."