Recog ch 2

[alice wellintown]

He kills a bird. It's a sin to kill a mockingbird. It is not his
readings in arcane theology or his father's ideas or his aunts that
teach him this; he knows it once the deed is done. He can create but
he can also murder (and, as Eliot says, there will be time to do
both). He also believes that his acts, be they the murdering of the
innocent bird, or the creation of beauty, are sacred acts. What he
does and what he fails to do, he believes, at least at this point, are
his account, not to be weighed down by dealers and reviewers, he must
have all the credit.


On Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 9:29 PM, Michael Bailey
<michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I guess Wyatt doesn't hope for an eternal reward.
>>
>> All his history to me at one point suggested that.
>
> which things made you think that?
>
> for me the idea cropped up when he talks about "the vanishing point"
> which is suggestive but I'm not sure how to express why that makes me
> think about post-life planning...
>
>
> mainly, though, the best indicator is that he doesn't act in his own
> epicurean interests, but refuses Cremer's kind offer --
>
> If he doesn't believe in some kind of transcendental rightness that he
> has to answer to, be judged by, and expect non-earthly rewards from,
> then why does he do that?
>