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