On 12/6/07 11:45 AM, "David H Fears" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> speculation as to a fictional character's motivation  is what
> Clemens might label as "mental masturbation."

This sounds like something a non-teacher would say, and I believe I am not
mistaken in suggesting that it betrays a serious misunderstanding about what
literature attempts to do.

Thinking about motives is central to the processes of reading literature,
and surmising how people think about such matters is central to the writing
process.  It is the bread and butter of competent discussions about literary
characters, and no, sorry, Mark Twain would not have called it that at all.
He quite literally analyzes motives in discussing with Joe Twichell the
motivations of the characters in George Eliot's ROMOLA, to give only the
example that came immediately to my mind.

It is surprising to hear someone say otherwise, as you do here,  and I doubt
if I am the only person who read your dismissive response with the same
thought.

Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University