05.04.08
Think about Tick
Why does Tick befriend John Voss? How does her sense of responsibility for him compare to Miles’s feelings, both as a child and as a grown man, about Cindy Whiting? Are the differences attributable to the circumstances that bring each pair together, or do they reflect something deeper about Tick’s and Miles’s morality and their abilities to empathize with other people? What other incidents demonstrate Tick’s understanding of what other people need? Why is she unable to treat Janine in the same comfortable, non-judgmental way she treats Miles and Max Roby?
cakequeen2 said,
May 4, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Tick, like John Voss, is an underdog. She wants to be different and be noticed, and so she is blind to the fact that John’s problems are way over her head in being able to help him. She appears to feel comfortable with Miles and Max because they treat her as an equal, and give her the space that she needs. Janine is threatened by Tick in both her looks and her intelligence. She sees Janine for the shallow person that she is, and Tick has no use for her. John’s pathology goes way beyond Tick’s maturity level, and she is helpless to dispel his demons.