Yes! I think you summed up his situation beautifully--and I think this is what Elkins was seeing in those scenes (and what I think I do too). There's insanity as a physical condition, like a disorder, and I don't think he has that. But then there's this long literary tradition of taking a highly strung person and putting them in a lose/lose situation and adding more and more stress. If you make a character like that go mad it's an expression of the situation, moreso than the person.
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Date: 2004-08-03 08:17 am (UTC)Yes! I think you summed up his situation beautifully--and I think this is what Elkins was seeing in those scenes (and what I think I do too). There's insanity as a physical condition, like a disorder, and I don't think he has that. But then there's this long literary tradition of taking a highly strung person and putting them in a lose/lose situation and adding more and more stress. If you make a character like that go mad it's an expression of the situation, moreso than the person.