Hmm. I don’t think this really works, because Eric brought up neither sex nor marriage. I think Ilyssa (the female protagonist) does pose an interesting question, but I have a hard time believing that she really feels repulsed or thinks she ought to. I’m not sure how to answer the question, but I’m pretty sure that it would be answered in the negative, and I have a strong feeling Ilyssa would agree.
The point of the passage seems simply to be that she has a tendency to say whatever pops into her head (and that those thoughts tend to be interesting and very intelligent), without any thought to the potentially negative social consequences. It’s meant to elicit a desire in the (presumably male) reader to be in Eric’s place and able to see past Ilyssa’s awkwardness and to her great mind, perhaps to handle the situation with more rationalist grace, perhaps even winning the interest of the girl. I think the rest of the story supports this interpretation.
Yes. But Johnicholas’s question was not about why Ilyssa reacted to what Eric actually said as she did, but about why she’d be revolted at “an offer of sex 20 moves ahead”. My idea was that it’s just considered far too early to bring it up; her ability to see things that have not been actually brought up as on the table anyway is causing her interpretation issues.
but about why she’d be revolted at “an offer of sex 20 moves ahead”
My point was that I don’t think she would be, or was. So the Johnicholas’s question seems way overly hypothetical. Ilyssa’s question to me seems to be purely hypothetical.
Actually, now that I think about it, maybe Johnicholas realized her question was purely hypothetical, and was just interested in her hypothetical reasons for feeling that way, which would be just fine with me.
Hmm. I don’t think this really works, because Eric brought up neither sex nor marriage. I think Ilyssa (the female protagonist) does pose an interesting question, but I have a hard time believing that she really feels repulsed or thinks she ought to. I’m not sure how to answer the question, but I’m pretty sure that it would be answered in the negative, and I have a strong feeling Ilyssa would agree.
The point of the passage seems simply to be that she has a tendency to say whatever pops into her head (and that those thoughts tend to be interesting and very intelligent), without any thought to the potentially negative social consequences. It’s meant to elicit a desire in the (presumably male) reader to be in Eric’s place and able to see past Ilyssa’s awkwardness and to her great mind, perhaps to handle the situation with more rationalist grace, perhaps even winning the interest of the girl. I think the rest of the story supports this interpretation.
Yes. But Johnicholas’s question was not about why Ilyssa reacted to what Eric actually said as she did, but about why she’d be revolted at “an offer of sex 20 moves ahead”. My idea was that it’s just considered far too early to bring it up; her ability to see things that have not been actually brought up as on the table anyway is causing her interpretation issues.
My point was that I don’t think she would be, or was. So the Johnicholas’s question seems way overly hypothetical. Ilyssa’s question to me seems to be purely hypothetical.
Actually, now that I think about it, maybe Johnicholas realized her question was purely hypothetical, and was just interested in her hypothetical reasons for feeling that way, which would be just fine with me.