From the depths of Raybear's closet.

Four days ago I read the Charles Baxter essay on "Counterpoint Characterization" which is fancy words for putting opposites in stories and what purpose they serve and how to do it well -- foils, doppelgangers, etc. He discusses James Joyce's short story The Dead and the appearance of a counterpoint character who appears late in the story, an ex-lover who doesn't even actually appear in person, only through the recounting of the wife to the husband, the husband who has spent the entire story obsessed with outer appearances and looking good during an after-dinner speech. Baxter says one of the main themes of the story is:

No one will ever love you passionately for being nice.^*

I can't stop thinking about this. It's invading my dreams.


^*This does not mean the converse is true, i.e. he's not saying You will be loved passionately for being mean. "Nice" in this case is more about propriety. Baxter goes on further to explain: "That isn't how passionate love works....we see that Gabriel has sentimentalized his marriage. Almost everyone does that. You get older, you put on galoshes. You can't have your after-dinner speeches and your passion too, or at least you can't buy passion with after-dinner speeches."