I base these generalizations on what I can recall
of my own childhoodoutlook. There was no volition aboutit, no
consciousness.
I had fallen into a chair, weakly
sniveling.
I hadbroken it: so Sim told me, and so I believed.
The more pleasure people took in Shakespeare, the less theywould listen to Tolstoy.
Do you know what I am going to do if youwet your bed again? In general, ones
memories of any period must necessarily weaken as onemoves away from it. But at
least he could see the whole issue and treat it at thelevel of tragedy. But finally
the most striking thing is how little difference it allmakes.
On the whole it is difficult to feel that
Tolstoyscriticisms are uttered in good faith. So much for the episode of the
bed-wetting. The second beating had not hurt very much either.
But if there is one thing certain about his later
years, it isthat he was NOT happy.
A Russian boy, large and fair-haired, a year older
thanmyself, was questioning me.
The weakness of the child is that it starts with
ablank sheet. Evidentlythere are two morals, one explicit, the other implied in the
story.
It is a normal reaction in children who have been
removed fromtheir homes to a strange place.
The humanist attitude isthat the struggle must
continue and that death is the price of life. I imagined, therefore, thatit was she
who was to be deputed to beat me.
Fright and shameseemed to have anesthetized me. Do
you think that is a proper thingto say? It is a normal reaction in children who have
been removed fromtheir homes to a strange place. There was no volition aboutit, no
consciousness. Science, also, must be divorcedfrom curiosity. If you throw away your
weapons, some lessscrupulous person will pick them up.
It is too drawn-out and has too many characters and
sub-plots. I was even incautiousenough to wear a grin on my face. Do you know what I
am going to do if youwet your bed again? Simpson called me back, as though to
introduceme to the visitor. However, Tolstoy is not simply trying to rob others of a
pleasure he doesnot share. But his main aim, in his lateryears, was to narrow the
range of human consciousness.
Lear is one of the minority of Shakespeares plays
that are unmistakablyABOUT something. Science, also, must be divorcedfrom curiosity.