>>For good netiqette, my name is Tony Hanley, 46 yrs old and I live in
>>Bangkok Thailand (with my Chinese wife and 5 yr old boy)where I work in
>>Construction Contract Management in SE Asia
>>Being new to the news group and having briefly scanned the previous
>>thread of Mary Postgate I am taking the chance that this subject or my
>>ideas will not be considered old hat.
After reading and hearing many references to the "Enemy Airman" in
>>Mary Postgate I note the following;
>>1 Dr Hennis informed Mary the child's (Edna Gerrit) death was caused by
>>the structural failure of the Royal Oak stable which had been dangerous
>>for a long time and the snapping of the beams made a misleading noise;
>>mistaken as a bomb blast.
>>2 Mary said it was a bomb from an aeroplane which she thought she heard on
>>the heath and it must have shut down its engines as it came down which is
>>why they didn't notice it
>>3 Through the twilight rain and the firelight (pyre)she saw the
>>bare-headed man "dressed in a uniform something like Wynn's, with a flap
>>buttoned across the chest"
>>4 Unlike the dark glossy heads of the young flying men at Wynn's funeral
>>"this man's head was as pale as a baby's, and so closely cropped that she
>>could see the disgusting pinky skin beneath"
>>5 He called Mary "Laty" (pigeon English for Lady ?) and, at the
>>terrifying sight of the gun in Mary's hand, he used the French language to
>>"surrender" asking for a "Toctor" (pigeon English ?)
>>6 The narrative(unquoted)states "THERE WAS NO DOUBT AS TO HIS
>>NATIONALITY";this after only the first word "laty" is spoken.
>>7 Mary is the only character in the story to speak German repeating she
>>had seen the dead child
My comments on this are;
>>- Anger at Wynn's death prompted the first incorrect assumption by Mary
>>that it was an enemy plane which killed the child even though she did not
>>even hear it
>>- This first error serves to reinforce the possibility of further
>>self-deception which was fuelled by the parrafin funeral pyre - obscured
>>by the flames coming from Wynn's belongings in the "destructor" - that the
>>dying airman was from an enemy plane which killed the child
>>- The observations of the dying airman were made through the twilight rain
>>with the benefit of firelight only and the shaved head was interpreted by
>>Mary to be foreign and barbarian in nature
>>- More revealingly,the plane, with it's telltale markings, was omitted
>>from the story, supported by Wynn's earlier recounting of airmen falling
>>out of planes
>>- Mary's limited thinking abilities were emphasised throughout the story
>>via comments from Wynn which left her reliant mostly on emotion for
>>decision making
Conclusion;
>>~ RK is once again tentalising us with facts that reveal more under closer
>>examination to gain multiple reactions (as a journalist would). This is
>>his favourite theme of human foibles and the different effects on those
>>under pressure at times of severe (emotional) strain. In this case not a
>>trained professional but a simple English lady.
>>~ Mary became a "changling" in the extreme seeing herself doing a man's
>>job but better than a man who's sportsmanlike attitude would deny
>>"justice" for the deaths.
>>~ A twist of fate renedered Mary alone and outside the normality of
>>society isolated from humane guidance and direction (the law)albeit at the
>>bottom of a typical English country garden which gave her the opportunity
>>to finally experience the feeling of control and completeness missing
>>throughout her uneventful life.
>>Those who know RK will find more in his writings. In this case a hidden
>>and brutal irony exists in that the tortured airman could have been a
>>visiting ally - engaging in training exercises (mentioned earlier in the
>>story by Wynn)over the English countyside.
On the face of it the story is distasteful(certainly not PC for the period),
but the disturbing empathy and understanding for Mary, which some may feel,
switches the emotions to guilt and horror when the unsettling possibilities
reveal themselves, at a later date, to the reader.
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