12-30-2011, 05:22 AM
"Why should I let the toad work squat on my life?"
It's a nice double entendre, that seems almost a conundrum, or at least for me as I try to hold both meanings to the statement in my head simultaneously. I think you can be an old fool and still be young. I have known people like that. So I have no problem with that aspect of the characterization. I can never decide if Larkin was a spokesman of the disillusioned, or if h was just being opportunistic. It is a problem with that way of speaking, as people tend to question your sincerity, or at least on which horse does that sincerity ride, although I suspect he was very much emotionally disenfranchised from the rest of society. The problem is, in his case it seems a choice. That being so, he often seems to be laughing at those he is suppose to be empathizing with. So quite right you should challenge Larkin on this, although it would have been nice if you had challenged himself (but that would probably not be in character for you), rather than just his words. Still you do seem to answer both possibilities of the statement, although the last line lends the answer a bit of ambiguity to the second one. E.g, does work act as a positive force in my life? The interesting thing is that I think both you and Larkin answer that question the same way, which in his case only to make him appear more disingenuous.
Dale
It's a nice double entendre, that seems almost a conundrum, or at least for me as I try to hold both meanings to the statement in my head simultaneously. I think you can be an old fool and still be young. I have known people like that. So I have no problem with that aspect of the characterization. I can never decide if Larkin was a spokesman of the disillusioned, or if h was just being opportunistic. It is a problem with that way of speaking, as people tend to question your sincerity, or at least on which horse does that sincerity ride, although I suspect he was very much emotionally disenfranchised from the rest of society. The problem is, in his case it seems a choice. That being so, he often seems to be laughing at those he is suppose to be empathizing with. So quite right you should challenge Larkin on this, although it would have been nice if you had challenged himself (but that would probably not be in character for you), rather than just his words. Still you do seem to answer both possibilities of the statement, although the last line lends the answer a bit of ambiguity to the second one. E.g, does work act as a positive force in my life? The interesting thing is that I think both you and Larkin answer that question the same way, which in his case only to make him appear more disingenuous.
Dale
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.