From: Karen L. Simonetti <klsimonetti>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 12:06:17 -0500

This is a duplicate posting in plain text! I apologize for my earlier missive that missed by being in html language! KLS

At 01:47 PM 7/22/2001 00, Maia wrote: Interesting, then, is the fact that Jolly is the last to fall in love - but the only one, it seems, to fall in love well, eh?

Karen Sue's post: Well, this is an interesting thought + also leads one to ask: Who does LaVaughn fall in love with? [SPOILER]


(Spoiler! Last Warning! ;>)

I finished True Believer with a most satisfying feeling that the door of opportunities and exploration and excitement and possibilities (and apparently a whole bunch of "ands") had been opened for LaVaughn AND she was going to walk through it!


I'm unclear what "the only one, it seems, to fall in love well" implies, Maia could you expand? I think I know where you're going and that is the reason that I would argue that LaVaughn is ultimately the "true believer" and as such, in the end, she fell in love on a variety of levels.

LaVaughn fell in love:

         1/with herself, (she never threw away the orange - or is that the apple from the Garden of Eden?);

         2/with her Mom (all over again - remember the part about her Mom holding her + then taking out her toddler dress to press);

         3/with her life (think of this in conjunction with her interaction with the children/infants at the hospital; also in conjunction with the cover art: life began in the ocean and on the cover are two individuals lovingly reaching for each other in the water/surround by water surrounded by life, the fish);

         Actually, she seems to have a almost magical connection with little children. Given that she is an only child, I find it most curious that she connected with Jolly's children and the two lost children on the bus: I cannot identify what psychological theory must be at work, but this seems to somehow tied into her reaching for her father.

         4/There are other examples or extensions of this concept; especially regarding LaVaughn and her friends. (But, I've been sitting with this thought for three days now and really want to get the post out before the end of the month!)

Which brings me to another question, the last sentences of True Believer reads as follows:

This is the way it has turned out. I feast my eyes on this amazing birthday and I think I can live with the way life is. I say in my heart, Guy, your daughter is sixteen. How do you feel about that?* (*same font only smaller & lighter - underlined for emphasis)

Who is talking here? Is it both mother and daughter? What LaVaughn has incorporated into her heart/psyche from her Mom? Did she call her Dad
"Guy" in other portions of the book? (If so, this is the most embarrassingly stupid question.) But, actually, if it is LaVaughn's Mother talking, then what a cool way to move the story along. It certainly opens up the world of possibilities.

Karen Sue...now certainly a true believer...




We have art so that we may not die of reality.
-Nietzsche Karen L. Simonetti email: klsimonetti at earthlink.net phone: 312.337.7114
Received on Tue 24 Jul 2001 12:06:17 PM CDT