Frybabe, Yes, I agree, I do think when Mr. H., finally stepped out of his comfort zone, and felt the headiness for the first time in his life, he realized how much he had cheated himself out of, and fear certainly could have been a factor. It makes me wonder if he resented Sedgewick, being so young and fearless, yet was drawn to him for the excitement. Didn't he say Sedgwick pulled him in.....maybe Mr. H., taking those little steps of breaking the rules for Sedgewick, was his attempt to not following the rules and experiencing what it is like to be like Sedgewick.
I am so glad you have George, he sounds like a very caring, loving and wise person. This is a wonderful statement..... "I occasionally tell him he created this monster, now he has to live with it."
Ginny, We must be reading different books. Sedgewick was not a senator. He was running for the office. And cheating his way through. If every idiot in the US who ran for office had been elected TO that office, we'd be in worse shape than we are currently.
In my book on page 203:
He won that election not in small part because he managed to convince those miners that he was one of them. They were ignorant people, and I cannot blame them for taking to the shrewdly populist rhetoric of the man. I saved this picture that appeared the following morning in the Gazette: Senator Bell radiating all the populist magnetism of his father, holding high the arm of an old man who has on his face the remnants of a proud foolish smile.
He's finally proud of himself. Is he really proud of himself, or is he finally allowing himself to recognize Sedgewick is successful in spite of him thinking the father was a bad parent. He mentions Sedgewick "radiating all the populist magnetism of his father." Does he realize how much the father really did for his son, how much the father meant to Sedgewick?
It rankled my feathers that Mr. H., would call the miners, "ignorant people" Is this Mr. H., just not accepting people liked Sedgewick? Voters who are being proactive, as these miners were, can see beyond the rhetoric, the last word I would describe them as is "ignorant."
Unfortunately we can't. The reason is the Great Judge, the author who created these characters will not allow us to make a fair judgment by the way he's written the book.
Hmmm....an author can write a book with his/her own intentions, but the reader is at liberty to read the words and decide for themselves what they will perceive it to be. Much like scripture, two people can read the same verse and come away with an entirely different interpretation. We factor in our own personal experiences, beliefs, morals etc., and can come away seeing something the author himself/herself did not realize could be there.
A few times we have had authors join our discussion and tell us they had not intended for the reader to see it as we expressed we did, but they could see how we came to our conclusion. As an author myself, I would never want my reader to see me as the "Great Judge"I would hope my readers would expand beyond my words and thoughts and inspire me and others to see it from many different points of view, as I feel we all have done with this story. As I mentioned before, it's like a prism.
We see it differently and are not going to change each other's minds regardless of our arguments and points. I agree they both were cheaters and intent does not excuse the cheating. You see these two characters one way, and I see them another. I do not see Sedgewick as a "cardboard character" the author and the narrator, Mr. H., has made him a very important character in his storytelling. Without him, there would be no story. No one gets through life living it to perfection. We all along the way will bend a rule, tell a lie, manipulate a situation for our gain, etc. It does not make everyone bad people, it makes them human. I do not see either of these characters as irredeemable.
We are indeed reading the same book, and I think you make fine points, but we will have to agree to disagree.
