PEACE: Sherry vs. Doris

Michael Andre-Driussi · 31 Oct 2002, 01:53 · from urth-v0210.mbox · original

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From: Michael Andre-Driussi <mantis at siriusfiction.com>
Subject: Re: (urth) PEACE: Sherry vs. Doris
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2002 17:53:57 -0800
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I wrote about Sherry's joke.  Roy quoted and wrote:
>>I make this parallel not to link Sherry and Doris as being the same perso=
n,
>>or even related, but being both young women feeling pressure to prostitute
>>themselves.
>
>Other than age, I don't see that the two girls have much in common. Doris =
is
>ostensibly an orphan; Sherry is not. Doris has "victim" written all over
>her, whereas Sherry is anything but. Judging by Charlie's account, Doris is
>naive, not only sexually (Charlie said that someone would have to tell her
>how she could show she was grateful for Tom Lavine's failed gallantry), but
>she didn't know better than to wear her new clothes "with the labels still
>on". Sherry is, by her own mother's account, a very "forward" girl (as
>demonstrated by her blowing Weer a kiss while on the stairs of her home, to
>say nothing of her seduction of Weer), fully prepared to use her "magic
>ring" to make all her wishes come true. In Doris's place, Sherry would have
>soon been queen of the midway, had she wanted to be, or, more likely, been
>on the first bus out of town, and with money in her pocket, to boot.

And here I thought we might have different interpretations of the joke (in
light of the Jonas joke)!

But wait -- you think they are the same age?  Hmmm.  I thought we had
agreed that Doris is younger than 16.

As for the differences in character between Doris and Sherry, I agree.
Their situations at those two moments might be similar, but their
characters are different.  One is an orphan; one often thinks of leaving
home before she finishes high school.  All of which is another strike
against Doris =3D Sherry.

Doris is presented as a "good" girl who comes to a bad end; as opposed to
"bad" girl Olivia who comes to a bad end, and "bad" girl Sherry who comes
to not as bad an ending (as far as we can tell she lives into her late 30s,
does not commit suicide, is not murdered).  Maybe this is what is
depressing to Weer, the way that she is pecked at by the others, and she
doesn't have the strength and whatall to escape.

If Weer somehow did arrange for that fairy godmother routine, I'm sure he
would be depressed at how that worked out.

=3Dmantis=3D

Sirius Fiction
booklets on Gene Wolfe, John Crowley
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http://www.siriusfiction.com/

--=20

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