Re: Mr. Antolini
Steve Gallagher (sgallagher@lasersedge.net)
Fri, 05 Dec 1997 09:12:47 +0000
Malcolm Lawrence wrote:
> I remember when I first read Catcher when I was a teenager and had no sexual
> experience and a lot of naiveté about the world, that whole episode with
> Antolini I felt was too vague for me to get a grasp on how my own emotional
> reaction to it would have been. But now that I'm many years and much experience
> removed from that time and place, I better understand Mr. Antolini, especially
> because I've met people like him whom I knew in the bottom of my heart had pure
> motives yet I could also sense that their expression of love was pretty much
> inextricably entwined with a sexual expression of love. It's a very delicate
> situation for an adult to love a child or minor with agape and not have it be
> interpreted as eros.
> Malcolm
Wow. Not sure if I should envy or empathize with you here, Malcom. Perhaps you
could elaborate, even slightly, on your understanding of Antolini, such as his
motives, pure or otherwise, limiting your observations to the facts presented
in the text.
--
SGallagher