Re: Yet Another One-shot Repository (New Entry 3/16/14)
Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 8:58 pm
It's very much like a pavane with only two participants, symmetry more-or-less maintained. As a bystander watching the outer dance, I'm going to try to express what passes through my mind about the inner dance.
I feel for the Lilly of the piece because she's like a Banks character, having to figure out a game to which she doesn't know the rules, on a gameboard not of her own choice. But because her psychological context is sparse or anticultural it's actually harder for the reader to decide whether to be sympathetic or not to Lilly as a person.
For example, the part about tears: in Japan, the reason you're allowed 'manly feels' etc is that it's culturally acceptable to cry for reasons of such as personal loss or romantic crisis. It's probably considered improper -not- to cry in the situation that Lilly's in. That cultural context is why it may be more culturally and psychologically compelling to think of Lilly obsessing about Hisao (and vice versa) than to just think of them severing their psychological association. Doesn't mean they're still in love or that they necessarily maintain deep emotional ties, mind. But they were in some sense each other's first loves, and the idea of that can survive long beyond what pragmatism or practical circumstance might allow.
Similarly, the odd relationship between her parents. That's one the canon bequeathed us in sparse outline as well. It's hard to understand, and becomes psychologically jarring because of that — are one or both Satou parents socially or culturally conservative, and to what extent? So, why Akira? And which parent is dominant? And why? I struggle with those questions myself, but Lilly and Akira both must have some answers, and they would plausibly factor those in (incidentally, for the reader's benefit) when thinking about their parents.
I like the writing in terms of eloquence and style. I just feel rather oppressed by Lilly's mental straitjacket.
I feel for the Lilly of the piece because she's like a Banks character, having to figure out a game to which she doesn't know the rules, on a gameboard not of her own choice. But because her psychological context is sparse or anticultural it's actually harder for the reader to decide whether to be sympathetic or not to Lilly as a person.
For example, the part about tears: in Japan, the reason you're allowed 'manly feels' etc is that it's culturally acceptable to cry for reasons of such as personal loss or romantic crisis. It's probably considered improper -not- to cry in the situation that Lilly's in. That cultural context is why it may be more culturally and psychologically compelling to think of Lilly obsessing about Hisao (and vice versa) than to just think of them severing their psychological association. Doesn't mean they're still in love or that they necessarily maintain deep emotional ties, mind. But they were in some sense each other's first loves, and the idea of that can survive long beyond what pragmatism or practical circumstance might allow.
Similarly, the odd relationship between her parents. That's one the canon bequeathed us in sparse outline as well. It's hard to understand, and becomes psychologically jarring because of that — are one or both Satou parents socially or culturally conservative, and to what extent? So, why Akira? And which parent is dominant? And why? I struggle with those questions myself, but Lilly and Akira both must have some answers, and they would plausibly factor those in (incidentally, for the reader's benefit) when thinking about their parents.
I like the writing in terms of eloquence and style. I just feel rather oppressed by Lilly's mental straitjacket.
