I am so impressed that you gleaned all of this from that paragraph. Ha - well, I'm just as likely to be making it all up, and MH wasn't thinking of that at all, but then isn't that half the fun of thinking about stories, and "analysing" them? *g*
his is such a patently ridiculous thing to do when teaming people for the field that I felt there had to be a different reason, and yet even with access to what he was telling us, I couldn't be sure. My reading of that is that of course Bodie had better reasons for pairing them - earlier in that paragraph he talks about how they behaved in training, both distinguishing themselves and showing this and that. To me that was why he paired them, whether he consciously thought so or not - and probably he didn't, probably he acted on instinct and then had to come up with a reason for himself later. No doubt if he was asked why them, he'd simply tap his nose and look all-knowing and mysterious - which would be closer to the truth than any reason he could actually come up with! I think Bodie does work on gut-reaction alot of the time, and is happy replying on that - that's ultimately why he knows he couldn't do, and wouldn't want to do Cowley's job. Doyle, on the other hand, drives Bodie mad by trying to think things through, to analyse, philosophise, double- and triple- think, and that's why Cowley might choose him for the job over Bodie - different skills, rather than unequal ones...
I thought the same as you about the torch analogy every time I read this - until now, when I was wondering what interesting parts of the story might be talked about today! Then I took the time to actually try and work out what it might mean, and came up with all sorts... For instance, the smaller fire could be their usual relationship on the job having lit the bigger fire, their love. Or their work for CI5 as agents having lit their future, the bigger picture of it all...
And in general, Doyle's the flame and Bodie's been holding him too close, so close, as he ran through life, that he couldn't see past what he thought he knew himself and that was what burned him. So he'd let himself be numbed to anything different - in other words it took him longer to realise that Doyle really had fallen in love with him too, and to believe it. So when Doyle ended up thrusting the torch (of his lurrrrve, by moving them in together) into Bodie's hands, Bodie fumbled it and nearly dropped it... If he hadn't been focussing so closely on how he couldn't have Doyle, if he'd watched Doyle from a different angle, perhaps with that analytical part of himself that he usually doesn't bother with, if he'd held his flame a bit higher and further away, then he might have seen the bigger picture of the relay, rather than just staring into the beauty of the fire... Or, you know, summat like that. *g*
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-07-14 12:38 pm (UTC)Ha - well, I'm just as likely to be making it all up, and MH wasn't thinking of that at all, but then isn't that half the fun of thinking about stories, and "analysing" them? *g*
his is such a patently ridiculous thing to do when teaming people for the field that I felt there had to be a different reason, and yet even with access to what he was telling us, I couldn't be sure.
My reading of that is that of course Bodie had better reasons for pairing them - earlier in that paragraph he talks about how they behaved in training, both distinguishing themselves and showing this and that. To me that was why he paired them, whether he consciously thought so or not - and probably he didn't, probably he acted on instinct and then had to come up with a reason for himself later. No doubt if he was asked why them, he'd simply tap his nose and look all-knowing and mysterious - which would be closer to the truth than any reason he could actually come up with! I think Bodie does work on gut-reaction alot of the time, and is happy replying on that - that's ultimately why he knows he couldn't do, and wouldn't want to do Cowley's job. Doyle, on the other hand, drives Bodie mad by trying to think things through, to analyse, philosophise, double- and triple- think, and that's why Cowley might choose him for the job over Bodie - different skills, rather than unequal ones...
I thought the same as you about the torch analogy every time I read this - until now, when I was wondering what interesting parts of the story might be talked about today! Then I took the time to actually try and work out what it might mean, and came up with all sorts... For instance, the smaller fire could be their usual relationship on the job having lit the bigger fire, their love. Or their work for CI5 as agents having lit their future, the bigger picture of it all...
And in general, Doyle's the flame and Bodie's been holding him too close, so close, as he ran through life, that he couldn't see past what he thought he knew himself and that was what burned him. So he'd let himself be numbed to anything different - in other words it took him longer to realise that Doyle really had fallen in love with him too, and to believe it. So when Doyle ended up thrusting the torch (of his lurrrrve, by moving them in together) into Bodie's hands, Bodie fumbled it and nearly dropped it... If he hadn't been focussing so closely on how he couldn't have Doyle, if he'd watched Doyle from a different angle, perhaps with that analytical part of himself that he usually doesn't bother with, if he'd held his flame a bit higher and further away, then he might have seen the bigger picture of the relay, rather than just staring into the beauty of the fire... Or, you know, summat like that. *g*