IVIV, more lost innocence. Is IV a Paradise Lost? p.38

[Tore Rye Andersen]

Me:
 
> It seems Doc shares some of Stray's ideas. Doc may not be an angel,
> and he may have his flaws, but his decision to save Coy and give
> Amethyst her dad back does seem to be just such a moment of uncompensated
> kindness. It would certainly be difficult to argue that Doc in this
> particular instance acts out of anything but pure kindness, sentimental
> PI that he is.
 
alice:
 
> It's actually fairly easy to argue since the text makes the argument
> for us: the best place to start is p.314 but there are several other
> scenes that expose Doc's delussions of some higher calling or
> vocation. Who is he working for if he working for himslef? It doesn't
> matter. What is he working for?
 
Hold it just a second! Doc works many different cases, and in some of 
the cases I would certainly agree with Shasta that Doc in some sense 
works for 'them' (the criminals); as when he returns mad Japonica to
her dad, for instance. Looking back on his career, Doc does indeed find
a "piss-poor record, not too different after all, he guessed, from the
interests Coy had been working for." But the case of Coy is different 
than Doc's usual cases; it's a more personal case, and you can't just 
lump it together with those other cases that have Doc questioning whom 
he really works for. 
 
The usual bad guys don't really benefit from Doc's interference here. 
Those who really benefit are Coy, Hope and Amethyst. This may be construed
as a facile, sentimental and schmaltzy subplot, but still: Coy, Hope and 
Amethyst are the ones who benefit in this particular instance.
 
I would still say that Doc is acting out of sentimental motives here, and 
I think the tone in the scenes with innocent Amethyst underscores this.
 
If I were to point to a less noble motive, it would be that by saving Coy,
Doc also tries to save himself. It could be construed as his attempt at 
distancing himself vicariously from those forces he otherwise has a hard 
time distancing himself from: "You figure this is why I'm going crazy trying
to figure a way to help Coy cut loose of these people?" (314)
 
The important thing is that Doc is not really helping "these people" in this
case. He is helping Coy, probably out of some stew of motives, where I would
argue that kindness and concern for Amethyst are very important ingredients.
And the only 'selfish' motive I can possibly see in this is a desire to also
save himself, to amend that piss-poor record.
 
 
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