Not Drugs The Anatomy of Melville's Melancholy (Thoreau:

[Joseph Tracy]

On Nov 16, 2009, at 10:12 PM, alice wellintown wrote:

> What does Denis do that matters?
> Does he do anything in this work that causes us to think or  
> question or feel?
> Or is he just a comic character set next to Larry/Doc to cast shadows
> and hear conversations?
> He reminds us of Homer's pal, Barney.

There are a lot of people in IV and in real life who do a lot of  
damage. Denis is a loyal friend to at least one good person, a person  
moving from money as the measure of life to karma, a person who is  
the only clear agent of justice in this story. There is something to  
be said for doing no harm, for being there when a friend is freaking  
out to ask if you are okay. Most of us have competent friends like  
Tito and Fritz and less competent friends like Denis. I like him  
being there, and the comic relief doesn't bother me at all.

"Yeah man" Denis put in," but we're in a Mercedes, and it's only  
painted one color, beige- don't we get points for that?"