A menagerie of scribbled thoughts, memories, and favorite things
The slow overture of rain,
each drop breaking
without breaking into
the next, describes
the unrelenting, syncopated
mind. Not unlike
the hummingbirds
imagining their wings
to be their heart, and swallows
believing the horizon
to be a line they lift
and drop. What is it
they cast for? The poplars,
advancing or retreating,
lose their stature
equally, and yet stand firm,
making arrangements
in order to become
imaginary. The city
draws the mind in streets,
and streets compel it
from their intersections
where a little
belongs to no one. It is
what is driven through
all stationary portions
of the world, gravity's
stake in things, the leaves,
pressed against the dank
window of November
soil, remain unwelcome
till transformed, parts
of a puzzle unsolvable
till the edges give a bit
and soften. See how
then the picture becomes clear,
the mind entering the ground
more easily in pieces,
and all the richer for it.
4 comments:
The answer that first springs to mind is that Alfred, quite simply, didn't want to demoralize Bruce further. But then I wonder. He was already mourning her death; how much sadder would the note have made him?
Alfred snatches back the note the moment that Bruce says something along the lines of "She chose me -- Dent mustn't know." What is it about that illusion that makes Alfred want Bruce to maintain it? In other words, how does Alfred think Bruce will live his life under that illusion, as opposed to how he will live if he knows the truth?
As the cliche goes, "what you don't know won't hurt you." Alfred must have been a believer in this adage and, what more, he must've cared enough for Bruce to have felt the need to spare the latter from getting even more devastated than he already was. And yes, there would have been a "sadder" sadness waiting for Bruce had he found out that it was not him whom Rachel chose.
Interesting point made here:
http://absorbascon.blogspot.com/2008/08/dark-knight-alfred.html
Not saying I agree with it. But it's interesting. :)
You're right, the entry is interesting.
I find it a little harsh, though. Alfred's decision--and the decision itself to decide on his own--is commensurate to that of a parent, or guardian, finding himself at a point where he has to choose for a child, mainly because: a)the child is unable to decide for himself, or; b)the parent strongly feels that the child's well-being would best be preserved if he is the one who chooses for the child. This is instinct for the part of the parent/s, and I think both reasons are applicable to the film.
There will always be the question, though, of the morality in Alfred's act, which is what will drive some to be put off by it. But then again, whose morality are we pertaining to, or should pertain to?
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