Perspectives

A while ago, I watched She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. It was a good movie, although John Wayne looked like a walrus with his moustache. Wayne played a yankee officer in charge of a fort . . . I was thinking about the movie to-day because Wayne's character had an oft-repeated belief that apologies were a sign of weakness. Someone apologised to me last night, and it occured to me that it seemed more like a sign of strength. I've seen enough people turn their feelings of guilt into anger at the person they were feeling guilty about. I suppose that could be seen as a sign of strength, since it's isolating which, in the case of Wayne's character, might've been appropriate since he was in charge of a military group. Of course, he also seemed strong enough to not hold grudges, which was pretty respectable. But it's pretty nice to feel like I'm not in the military.

I've not done very much to-day besides read The Dry Salvages by Caitlin R. Kiernan. I've finished the first pen--the story's divided into "pens", which is a neat idea that stems from Caitlin's feelings about first person perspective in fiction. I'm finding I'm gaining a new perspective on, and respect for, her feelings about first person narrative.