This phrase comes to mind when I read about Oswald. At the point in his life just before the assassination, he was even more withdrawn than usual. He lied about his past in order to get hired at the Depository. The man who hired him didn't check his application. If he had, he probably wouldn't have hired Oswald, who was fired from his previous two jobs. Not only that, there was his other questionable acts prior to those.
On the quotation, SparkNotes says:
His use of the word “desperation” instead of a milder reference to discontentment or unhappiness shows the grimness of his vision of the mainstream American lifestyle. He believes that the monomaniacal pursuit of success and wealth has paradoxically cheapened the lives of those engaged in it, making them unable to appreciate the simpler pleasures enumerated in Walden.
Oswald may have appreciated this and may have been familiar with Walden since he read so many books. He expressed similar opinions himself.
Given this quotation and Oswald's behavior, I am wondering if his plight was seen as somewhat of a sort that elicited pity, and therefore the tendency to want to blame someone else but him for the assassination.
It is a troubling thing to think that someone in a prominent position who has advised a President--Dick Morris-- could actually think Oswald may be innocent.
It is hard to derive something of value from this. A cautionary tale perhaps. "There, but for the grace of God, go I." So many of us-- I presume since I am including myself-- at times feel that sort of desperation. All the same, Oswald is guilty.
No comments:
Post a Comment