Yes, I think this is interesting because it's more complicated than the Gavin Hayes moment of solidarity. There's no way, even if he spoke Gaelic (*g*), that John would have called out <I>"A charaid!"</I> to Bates. But he is there to bear witness, and he calls the man by name, which carried the risk of guilt by association anyway. And then, as you point out, it's further complicated by the fact that he knows Bates is <I>not</I> "guilty" of being a sodomite, so John's sense of "solidarity" is at once more basic, and more abstract, than a feeling for the specific person to whom it becomes attached. -- LJG Discussion board

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Date Posted: 09:51:44 10/15/07 Mon
Author: pamelalass
Subject: Yes, I think this is interesting because it's more complicated than the Gavin Hayes moment of solidarity. There's no way, even if he spoke Gaelic (*g*), that John would have called out "A charaid!" to Bates. But he is there to bear witness, and he calls the man by name, which carried the risk of guilt by association anyway. And then, as you point out, it's further complicated by the fact that he knows Bates is not "guilty" of being a sodomite, so John's sense of "solidarity" is at once more basic, and more abstract, than a feeling for the specific person to whom it becomes attached.
In reply to: CatherineM. 's message, "I'd forgotten the time difference -- of course you're right that is years before the Gavin Hayes episode! Both remind me of the act of compassion in Dead Man Walking. I also wonder if a factor here is that Bates is dying on a trumped-up charge of sodomy, which is an offence (at the time) of which John is "guilty," So there is a complicated kind of solidarity here . . ." on 09:26:57 10/15/07 Mon

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