Re: The Weird Writing of Robert Louis Stevenson
Posted by:
Sawfish (IP Logged)
Date: 11 August, 2021 10:47AM
Platypus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sawfish Wrote:
> > E.g., we have Gray appear in the place of the
> old
> > lady to terrorize the two.
> >
> > Why not Jane Galbraith?
>
> I guess because she was murdered (directly) by the
> 2 Irishmen (who are evidently the infamous Burke
> and Hare) and not by Fettes or Macfarlane.
>
> > Also, this causes Fettes to slovenly drinking,
> but
> > MacFarlane hardly misses a beat.
>
> Seems to me they were both engaged in slovenly
> drinking, at least on that climactic night.
>
> > Really, it makes much more sense as a guy being
> > driven to drink by his inescapably guilty
> > conscience. We already know that MacFarlane has
> no
> > conscience, so that fact that none of these
> > killings causes him a negative turn in his life
> is
> > very plausible.
>
> It's not clear to me that Macfarlane has no
> conscience. He talks big at times, but then
> again, so does Fettes.
>
> > But if it is indeed Fettes trying to forget
> seeing
> > Gray, all messed up, in lieu of the old lady,
> to
> > my mind MacFarlane should be affe4cted every
> bit
> > as much as Fettes. There is no indication that
> > MacFarlane, callous as he is, would be
> unaffected
> > by an unarguably tangible supernatural horror.
>
> Initially, Macfarlane does seem to be far less
> affected than Fettes is. But Macfarlane's
> reaction to Fette's final question suggests that
> Macfarlane is indeed deeply affected, if maybe in
> a different way.
>
> > Yes. Not a compelling tale, so far as I'm
> > concerned.
>
> The climax, taken by itself, is a bit weak. But I
> have this image in my head, inspired by
> Macfarlane's reaction to Fette's last question,
> that Macfarlane is still to this day haunted by
> that Thing, still driving around in the seat of
> that horse and cart.
You know, maybe the most economical explanation for my interpretation is that I'm an overly enthusiastic fan of unreliable POV, which probably was not a common narrative mode of the era.
So what I'm doing is a lot like what happens in liberal arts colleges nowadays when evaluating historical figures: not using the standards of their day, but using today's standards.
...but that's OK, because *I'm* the one doing it... ;^)
--Sawfish
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"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
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