Re: Class without a bell for dismissal

It's really hard to argue with all that, honestly. I think, really, the
primary characteristics of sociopathy is a complete lack of conscience
-- which makes it much easier to cause destruction, but is no guarantee
that they actually will. They just don't _feel_ anything is wrong with
what they're doing. It's like there's a short circuit in their wiring
somewhere. Add a bit of charm school training to these people and,
well, you have a pretty scary prospect. But it's also possible for them
to coldly think that "I shouldn't be killing people and eating them
because the social consequences outweigh the pleasures."

Do you think Lane is completely unfeeling? I'd tend to think that he
usually apes concern when he tells himself that's what he "should" be
feeling, or that it would score points somehow with the person he's with
(I'm thinking of his reaction to Franny's "problem" in the bar), but
Salinger's very close attention to Lane's playing around with Franny's
letter at the opening of "Franny" I think is pretty telling too. I
don't recall the details. I do remember the distinct impression that it
meant more to him than he really wanted to admit, that he didn't
understand why, and that he didn't quite like the idea of having the
letter mean so much to him. All this, of course, beneath the surface.
He's too shallow to really think this through.

Jim

jlsmith3@earthlink.net wrote:

>No, definitely he's not capable of that kind of destruction. But I think Lane's character throws a monkey wrench into Vonnegut's prophecy of doom and gloom ("we have been conquered").
>
>Lane's charming, and he's self-absorbed, but what distinguishes him from a PP? There's the capability of destruction, but that's not a characteristic that's evident right away. How is Vonnegut to make such a distinction? Lane strikes me as a "gloriously normal" cad, but <i>heck, there are gloriously normal people who go to Charm School to develop all the telltale signs of a sociopath.</i>
>
>It's possible that the need to "save" someone from something like sociopathy is also indicative of a deep lack of self-respect, however, it's also possible that the St. Francis type wants to save someone he or she loves from believing that charm is an end itself.
>
>Most tragically, Bessie and almost everyone else were quite taken with Lane as a "charm boy."
>
>luke
>
>
>oh yeah, thanks for the tip on the italics, Jim. i'm enjoying messing around with them
>
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Received on Thu Jul 10 13:48:04 2003