'Twould be a miracle indeed

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=90 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="005dba33.gif"> <div> <A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us/"><U><IMG SRC="13891330.jpg" border=0 width="145" height="51" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>     | <A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us"><U>home</U></A> |   back to  <A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us/nonlotr/id107.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us/nonlotr/id107"><U><B>"Save the life of my child"</B></U></A><B> </B></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="On the ledge"><U>On the ledge</U></A>   |   <B>'Twould be a miracle indeed</B>   |   <A HREF="id111.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Whats becoming of the children?"><U>What's becoming of the children?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id112.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="When darkness fell"><U>When darkness fell</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id108.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="He flew away"><U>He flew away</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="b957e7e3.jpg"> <bR> <bR> <div> And everyone agreed 'twould be a miracle indeed </div> <div> If the boy survived </div> <bR> <bR> <div> Aaron depends on George and Dixon to keep his life as close to normal as possible. This works as long as all they need to do is hang out together. But when his two friends need their internal resources to cope with their own stresses, Aaron doesn't have anything to keep him afloat - and he certainly doesn't have the internal resources to help <I>them</I>. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="b9a20be0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="446" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> George is acting out of his own stress when he takes Aaron to a gay bar. The only logical explanation seems to be that George wants to make a "gay history" for himself to avoid going to war and takes Aaron along as a witness. Interesting choice - Dixon wouldn't agree to such a ploy, but Aaron is passive enough that he might; even so, George doesn't tell him where they're going. </div> <bR> <div> Actually, the only <I>plausible </I>explanation for the whole thing (if there is one) is that George is drunk and desperate. He's certainly drunk, but IMHO the kind of desperation that led him to contemplate cutting off one or more of his fingers, and then to intend to create a false identity for himself, doesn't fit the character. He has too many resources - both internal and external - for that.  OTOH, there's other evidence that George tends to lash out when he's under stress, as he does to a client during the meeting we see, so it's more believable that he ends up inciting a fight and getting himself badly beaten up. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="b7520c20.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Aaron's life has been one of <I>avoiding </I>fights. He'd been brought into the situation blind and almost certainly couldn't have helped George much in the fight that, all things considered, was George's fault. I don't think he necessarily considered "not having a scratch on him" to be a failure...</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="bd220c20.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> ...until Dixon took it as one. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="bd420c20.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Now, of course, it's one more thing to add to Aaron's anxiety about what could happen to him in the army. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="bd620c30.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="451" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Some more reflection, leading to...</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="b9020c20.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> ...worry...</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="b961ec00.jpg" border=0 width="798" height="448" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> ...sadness, and even hopelessness. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="b7b20bd0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="445" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> I have some difficulty interpreting the scene where Aaron points out to Dixon the pimp who stole his wallet, who Dixon then beats up (to put it mildly). It's been mentioned in the forum discussion that we don't know if Aaron intended the outcome, or if Dixon assumed that's what Aaron wanted because it's what he (Dixon) "always does."  The latter explanation would make me feel better about Aaron, but it might be too much of a rationalization. Did Aaron have a need to see if Dixon would do the same thing for him that he'd done for George years before? If you have any insights, please come and share them in <A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=73" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us/forums/index."><U>the forum</U></A>. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="c1820c00.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="448" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="c1a20be0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="446" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> This picture is so hard to look at that I almost didn't post it... but it's too expressive not to: </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="c1c20c40.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="452" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="c1e20bf0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="447" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="c2020bf0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="447" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="c2220c30.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="451" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="b9f6c0a0.gif" border=0 width="620" height="10" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 66 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id110_m.htm" TITLE="Twould be a miracle indeed"><U><IMG SRC="1647d3c0.jpg" border=0 width="125" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 71 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id111.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Whats becoming of the children?"><U><IMG SRC="1657d3c0.jpg" border=0 width="125" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 66 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="On the ledge"><U><IMG SRC="3e17d3c0.jpg" border=0 width="125" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> The background on this page is made from some of the wall and curtains in Aaron's loft. </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>