[continued from previous message]   
      
   That sounds like another contradiction to me. Previously you said that   
   "every" character in a novel represents an aspect of the author, and now   
   you admit that at least some are actually inspired by other people. Of   
   course they're filtered through the author's imagination, but that's the   
   precisely the point I'm trying to make to you: that the poem is a work   
   of imagination, not simply a recitation of facts. The poem uses my   
   memories, but it's not based on my memories; it's based on my speakker's   
   memories as I imagined them to be.   
      
   > Every literary work is similar to a   
   > dream construct in that regard; and like a dream construct, can be   
   > analyzed by a psychologist, a literary critic, or even the average   
   > reader.  Since "My Father's House" was based to a large extent on your   
   > own childhood experiences, it literally begs for a psychoanalytical   
   > reading.   
      
   Forgive me if I use the term "psychobabble" again, but that's precisely   
   what your mention of "analyzing" dream constructs put into my head. It   
   reminded me of how your Dr. Freud came up with his theory of the Oedipus   
   Complex (which you and the other "doctor" claimed I suffered from) by   
   "analyzing" a child's dream about two giraffes.   
      
   > Despite your claims of taking the reader through Little George's home   
   > (with the same floor plan as its real life counterpart) on a   
   > room-by-room basis, you jump from the kitchen to the garden.   
      
   Your insistence on calling the speaker "George" is annoying (although it   
   is preferable to the "Boy George" nickname you previously borrowed for   
   him him and then insisted on calling me). I think you're just playing   
   with words to blur the very distinction between speaker and writer that   
   I'm trying to make with you. So I'm going to start calling him "Bob"   
   instead.   
      
   > I am   
   > guessing that you'd originally written the garden stanza to come first   
   > within the body of the narrative, but had later switched it with the   
   > kitchen stanza based on the severity of the (potentially perceived)   
   > abuses.   
      
   No, you guessed wrong again; the stanzas were not switched. The poem   
   switches from the kitchen to the garden because the speaker is looking   
   out the window, and in the floor plan of the house (which I've told you)   
   the kitchen window overlook s the garden at the back of it.   
      
   > In this stanza, Little George is forced to spend his summers   
   > working in the garden -- while enviously watching the neighborhood   
   > children.  Because Little George describes their games as "mis   
      
   You seem to have "frozen up", HarryLiar. That's not a big deal, of   
   course; I realize that responding to a long post takes time: one often   
   gets interrupted, even in mid-sentence. I mentioned it only because you   
   and "Dr." NastyGoon have pointed to it, when I did it, as evidence that   
   I suffered from not just psychological but various neurological   
   diseases.   
      
   > How autobiographical is your poem?  Let's see.   
   >   
   > In the poem "Little George" states that the house came in a box, and   
   > that he helped his father assemble it,  You had said that in real life,   
   > your house came in a box, and that you helped your father assemble it.   
   >   
   > Little George tells how he was made to use the back door, had to take   
   > off his shoes (and things), and wait for permission to enter.  In real   
   > life, you had to use the back door, and remove your shoes before   
   > entering as well.  I don't recall whether you also had to wait for   
   > permission.   
      
   True; in real life, the entire family removed their shoes on entering   
   the house, and that's a reason we used the back door (because it had a   
   landing where the shoes could be left. If I were writing an   
   autobiography, I'd mention it that way; but because I'm imagining a   
   fictional speaker's memories, I omitted that detail. As for needing to   
   have permission to enter; I recall a few times when I was chased back   
   outside, but it wasn't an everyday thing. Once again, I was not   
   recounting events as I remembered them, but events as how I'd imagine my   
   speaker remembering them.   
   >   
   > You have also stated that the house in the poem is laid out exactly your   
   > real life childhood house, and that you have intentionally chosen to   
   > take the reader through this house room by room.  You have also said   
   > that you intentionally chose to present each room along with a   
   > description of a (possibly abusive) memory associated with it.   
      
   Yes I did. I gave you the latter description in the very post you're   
   replying to. Since you've buried it, it may be a good idea to move it up   
   here:   
      
   >> S1 - the speaker revisits the house (after getting permission from   
   >> someone unspecified).   
   >> S2 - the speaker remembers his father building the house.   
   >> S3 - the speaker enters the back door, and remembers having to always   
   >> have had to use that door.   
   >> S4 - the speaker goes into the kitchen, and recalls having to wash   
   >> dishes.   
   >> S5 - the speaker looks out the kitchen window at the garden, and recalls   
   >> having to work in it when he'd rather be playing.   
   >> S6 - the speaker goes into the living room, and recalls not being   
   >> allowed to sit  wherever he chose.   
   >> S7 - the speaker thinks about his bedroom (but does not go there) and   
   >> remembers being sent there to be alone after dinner until bedtime.   
   >> S8 - the speaker continues to think about his bedroom, and remembers   
   >> having an  early bedtime and being subject to corporal punishment.   
   >> S9 - the speaker wishes he could burn the house down.   
      
   > The first room in Little George's house is the kitchen.  Little George   
   > associates this room with having to wash dishes, while looking out the   
   > window and wishing that he was some other place.  In real life, you were   
   > also made to wash dishes.  This is not uncommon.  Most children 50 years   
   > ago were given chores to perform.  I had chores to do as well.  The   
   > difference is that I was paid a weekly allowance for doing them, and had   
   > the option of quitting my "job" at my discretion.   
      
   Unlike you, I did not receive an allowance, and I was not able to walk   
   away and leave the dishes dirty when I wanted to do something else.   
   Unlike both you and Bob, I washed dishes twice a day with my sister (and   
   later with one of my step-nieces). That last is another detail I changed   
   for dramatic effect.   
      
   > In spite of your claim that you were taking the reader on a tour of   
   > Little George's house (which has the same floorplan as your real life   
   > childhood home), the narrative jumps from the kitchen to the garden.   
   > I'm guessing that the garden stanza originally came before the kitchen   
   > one, but that you later rearranged the stanzas to present the supposed   
   > "abuses" in order of severity (as you have recently stated).  Little   
   > George spends his summers working in the garden, all the while envious   
   > of the neighborhood children who are free to play at their will.  The   
   > fact that Little George calls their games "mysterious" and laments that   
   > he "never knew" them implies both that he had to spend the entire day   
   > doing chores and that he was not allowed to join the other children in   
   > their games.   
      
   It sounds like you're repeating yourself; but maybe it's worth making   
   the same points in return. I wasn't *always* working in the garden,   
   while my friends were always working - though that's how it seemed   
   sometimes when I was working and they were playing - so that's how I had   
   Bob remember it.   
      
   > Was George Dance also forced to work in the garden all day/denied the   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)