Reply To: What burning questions, observations, or comments do you want to share?
Lovely analysis! I was struck by that poem, too, throughout the story. I love that you saw something I failed to consider in that first reciting of the poem — I felt that Armand was using it as an instructional tool for Jean-Guy, trying to get him to see that the victim was a person with a reason behind their behaviors; what one sees on the surface is not necessarily all there is to know about them, and all people have “more than meets the eye” within themselves. And that dawned on JG fully after he learned more about Armand and realized his first impressions were all wrong. I didn’t look at it as Armand also telling JG that he saw that there was more than met the eye to him as well. I like that thought! And of course, Armand would be thinking that about JG — he was already intrigued by him and wondering what made him tick. That’s a great observation. As for that poem, it reminded me of one that has stuck with me through the years called “Richard Cory,” (by Edwin Arlington Robinson), about a rich man-about-town who was admired and envied by all who went home and committed suicide. A good example of “there is more than meets the eye…”