STetc ch 35 - retraction, change of course / the suggested convo at chapter's end

[Michael Bailey]

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Robin, your points are valid & argument strong.
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I've been enchanted by the possibility of Hicks & Daphne, sitting in a tree
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However, P-corpus-wide, there's a rather definitive negativity towards old dudes acting like they're teenagers, esp w/r/t to young women
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Now, I'm still not seeing Hicks as really old...
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And I think Daphne has got a few years on her
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And perhaps what she feels is more than gratitude, and maybe her bringing up the "lifelong obligation" (I said Ojibwa, but Chippewa) is more than just teasing
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And maybe Hicks has more potential than one might think


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But my STetc posts aren't going to focus on that possibility to any great extent (more than they have already)

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IJS, though, Hicks giving Daphne that errand...it'll keep him on her mind


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"What one of them should have been saying..."
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Which one?
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Hicks with his operationally-developed sense of duty?
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Daphne, who we've been told at least twice, occasionally prays & hence one must suppose a conscience?


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"...a break that will seem so wonderful and peacable and carefree..." (Like Frenesi & Zoyd's wedding, or, looked back at like PRRR from that hypothetical crab cake & white wine luncheon in VL?)


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Also, "...back to the U.S., marry, raise a family..." etc "...meanwhile, over here"


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Marry each other? Or the other prospective partners?

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Whichever one of them is supposed to be speaking, the urging, the pricking of conscience seems to all be in favor of staying where they're at
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Not just Hicks, but Daphne too?
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If it's Hicks's supposed speech, then he'd be telling Daphne not to go back & marry that Flaunch guy, but stay here and save people?
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If it's Daphne's, then she'd be telling Hicks, forget your April dreams, stop roving around aimlessly, and concentrate on the good you can do here.

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"If anybody was still there to hear it. Which there isn't."

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Both of them having left, and/or stopped listening.
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Because it isn't a very inspiring speech.
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IMHO, this author could write a much more inspiring hypothetical speech - this is, as Skeet Wheeler might say, "...one of those pep talks you guys are so good at."

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It's like a generic "back to work" idea, nose to the grindstone, reminiscent of Pointsman bucking Roger Mexico up ("I know these romantic fires that burn you now; the only cure is work" or words to that effect)

    I mean, the idea is legit: we've got to engage with the rest of the world, not build a walled garden.

But that's not what they were doing anyway; nothing in the speech specifically addresses the situation of Daphne, or Hicks, or Hicks+Daphne, does it?
And telling somebody they'll regret something later, wow, not high on the list of effective persuaders, is it?

Love and marriage aren't necessarily a retreat from the world, but can be instrumental to working well in it (imho)