> > (To quote Sam, "Clearly, [this is a] rationalization made up after the fact.")

Heh. I love it. Which post of Sam's are you quoting this from, Sakura? :-)


> It may not work on an entirely realistic level, but it works on a dramatic level. (It's not really symbolic, since it doesn't symbolize anything other than what it is.)
>

Huh???? Ok, I fear I'm lost, Sam. Most dramatic fiction can be read on several levels, one with respect to realism (i.e. the obvious story, as immediately apparent after a casual reading), and on another level that can be interpreted as symbolic -- i.e. on a level that often closely follows a major theme, or plot, which is immediately familiar to most readers. The chosen plot may, or may not, artfully parallel the life of the author; but ironically enough, the symbolic parallel is somehow greater if it does.


Wolf "The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Talented Miss Corey Payne, Who, Despite Remarkable Promise as a Fictional Character, Nevertheless Falls Prey to the Villany of Persecution and Callous Indifference, Whereof Finally Ending at Last, Ignominiously, in Wretched Escape from Tragic Cruelty of Fate" :-) spirit