Am in partial accord with Roger Ayer's statement.
The 'airman' was certainly an exception. In my opinion he was a chimera
called into being by the emotional Mary Postgate. RK placed him there for an
illustrative, allegorical purpose.I have read the story trying to accept all
the elements as hard stated facts. I have also read it as an allegorical
fable. I know which version makes sense to me.
I find it interesting to compare 'Mary Postgate' with 'A Sahib's War' (1901)
. There are several salient points in common.The loss of a 'surrogate son'
killed in a war time environment.The bitter revenge, the appearance of an
apparition( in this case a soldier - Kurban Sahib) by the dim light of a
lamp. The Sahib's War has a factual ring to it.
Unlike Postgate,it has the feel of a parable without the allegorical
content.I would be interested to learn what other members think of 'A
Shaib's War'. If you haven't read it please do, it is a superb example of
RK's descriptive genius.
What is also interesting is the repellent physical description RK applies to
'the enemy' in both stories. Postgates's 'airman' had a 'digustingly pinky
skin' on his cropped scalp.The devious Boer family were described as: An old
man with a white beard and a wart upon the left side of his neck: and a fat
woman with the eyes of a swine and the jowl of a swine. The simple son was
portrayed thus: 'His head was hairless, no larger than an orange,and the
pits of his nostrils were eaten away by a disease'.
Michael Jefferson
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, September 12, 2000 6:04 AM
Subject: Re: Mary Postgate
>In a message dated 08/09/00 2:56:02 PM GMT Daylight Time,
>[log in to unmask] writes:
>
><< Anyone falling out of an aircraft without a parachute (despite the break
>of fall by trees) would be dead and more than a little disfigured by the
>fall. He certainly would not be able to speak. >>
>
>If there ever were any exceptions to this statement, they were obviously
very
>exceptional indeed. However, that is surely not the point. If Kipling
>wanted the airman to be an exception in his story, then an exception he
was,
>however improbable in real life. He was, after all not much of an
exception
>- he was broken, he did die.
>
>Yours Sincerely,
>Roger Ayers
>Membership Secretary,
>The Kipling Society
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