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Anne Dalke's picture

On being free to play

Submitted by Anne Dalke on Wed, 05/22/2013 - 9:51pm.

And I'm interested in the related question of who gets to play...or: how much security one needs to have before one is "free" to take risks. I just finished Zadie Smith's new novel, NW (thinking it might work for this course. since the jacket flap says, "This is the story of a city...Cheek-by-jowl living. Separate worlds").

Here's an example of that separateness.
Frank (who was raised in wealth) says to his wife Natalie (who was not),
"Your family for whatever reason refuse to help you--"
"They don't refuse to help me, Frank--they can't!" cried Natalie...
"Cheryl could stop having children. Your brother could get a job. They could leave that money-grabbing cult. Your family make poor life choices--that's just a fact...."
It seemed that Natalie Blake and Francesco De Angelis had opposite understandings of this word "choice." Both believe their own interpretation to be objectively considered and in no way the product of their contrasting upbringings (272).

So, too, I think, with the possibility of "play"....?

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