> 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 -- http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/4801/