use real people and real life?

I'm not sure you MISSED the mark, Travis, with the rape gesture at the end of the story. I mean, I'm not sure it was misread, or that it didn't come off the way you meant it to. I think we got the idea that he thought he was saving her, that there was this haze of alcohol, and that she in no way needed saving, as she seemed like a strong person throughout the text.

I think what happened was just that we also read this other layer of meaning into it, related not only to that implication of those who thinks she need saving (and the condescencion or misunderstanding of the real situation in that), but also of the sort of narcissism or exploitation inherent in the act.

so i think you achieved EXACTLY what you set out to achieve, but that there was ALSO this other thing happening, a byproduct which added a richness to the text that we may have been paying more attention to.

maybe i'm off my rocker, though.

and, like you, i'm also interested in the question about to what extent we can use real people and real life, and when that becomes exploitation. i've gotten to the point where i'm a little hesitant to send out the story i wrote that was set in africa, anymore. i mean, i got an encouraging letter from zoetrope (they said it was"convincing"), which made me think i should keep trying to get it published, and ultimately the thing is very critical of how americans and the west in general regard africa, treats africans, et cet, but there's stuff about rwanda in there, and congolese refugees, that i just feel icky about. sometimes i'm not sure if it's like the story is interesting and entertaining as an art object and has something to say about the world that's important or interesting, or if it's just that sam's getting his kicks, jerking off and trying to make a buck or a name off the fact that he spent four or five weeks in this place where a lot of really desperate people wound up after their families had been butchered.

so go figure. i dunno.

[originally posted by Sam Ruddick]