Her choice
Posted by Mark on September 29, 1997 at 17:49:43:
In response to i "agree" that you could be onto something!, written by greg on September 28, 1997 at 23:11:02
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] but what surprised and puzzled me about the passage is that the narrative seemed to indicate some appearance of prurience on mr. b's part, and that miss t was smiling at the absurdity of it. there seemed to be some significance to the unique wording "he scrutinized the reverse of these living medals for five minutes...". it didn't seem consistent that miss t would smile in such a dire situation. and i couldn't imagine that one would imagine anyone being aroused by the sight of the older girls in plain "brown dresses, made high", with "woollen stockings and country-made shoes", that "gave an air of oddity even to the prettiest". oh well, i guess the whole scene was supposed to be silly in a sad sort of way.
Miss. Temple has a choice. She could either laugh or cry. If she laughs, she is in control. If she cries, Mr. B. is in control. She is in control, so she laughs at the absurdity of it all.
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