zooey

helena kim (helenak@geocities.com)
Thu, 05 Feb 1998 21:58:15 +0000

> He's learned something.That's what the
> fat lady is all about,isn't it?A reason to move.Everybody's always becoming
> healthier,aren't they?The fat lady is the manager of this.It's managing Franny
> and Zooey to stop complaining and do what the hell they want to do.

it's really difficult to talk about this, but i always found the whole
concept of the fat lady to be very, well, christian. like at the end of
s:ai when buddy says something about all his students being his sisters.
i didn't think it was about 

> managing Franny
> and Zooey to stop complaining and do what the hell they want to do.

i thought it was about getting f&z to remove their heads from their
respective asses, let professor tupper *be* professor tupper, and live
and let live. 

i read somewhere that 'the decisive point which determines the quality
of existence is the point of interaction between the individual and
society.' i never thought f&z was about any sort of internal struggle
within the characters. i thought it was about them learning how to
interact with society. almost everything either of them had done up
until the phone conversation at the end smacked of both condescension
and self-pity. franny feels sorry for herself because *she's* looking
for meaning, and lane is so shallow. <sarcastic> if only everyone in the
world was as spiritual as franny </sarcastic>.

the truth, for me, at the end of f&z was that everyone is only doing
their best to get on with life, in the best way we know how. 

when i try and describe what i mean, it comes out as such a noxious,
hippie, 'do unto others' kind of way. but i can't think of any other way
to put it.

and so i'll bow out, exasperated.


:helena





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