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 . . . -- LJG Discussion board

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

Tuesday, May 28, 18:48:34 [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, [7], 8, 9 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 09:26:57 10/15/07 Mon
Author: CatherineM.
Subject: 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 . . .
In reply to: pamelalass 's message, "Yes, that's it! This is such a wonderful echo of the opening of DOA, one of my all-time favorite sequences, with Jamie striding through the crowd, women ogling, Claire joking, and then the sheer emotional intensity of Jamie's act of love in bearing witness for, and with, Gavin. Here, at Tyburn, the emotions that spur John to act against his "better judgment" are perhaps more convoluted (and he's not tall, so he has to wave his arms *g*) but it is a kindred act to Jamie's, and actually occurs long before Jamie ends up at Gavin's execution in America." on 06:02:02 10/15/07 Mon

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

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. (NT) -- pamelalass, 09:51:44 10/15/07 Mon

[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums^(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.