Quote:
Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl
I think it’s more of a “laugh at yourself” type of making fun. The gentle satire rather than biting helps to make the tone more affectionate. Also one should consider the time period in which it was written. [...]
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For me it was very much this. Even the elements that were not pleasant (the Judge's son, burning the church), there was an element of reflection such that the narrator was not saying "I support this" or "I deride this". Rather, it felt like the perspective was very much "I was part of this" - good and bad. And even in the bad there remains that affection, perhaps because it is recognised as part of a greater whole.
The farewell/l'envoy was interesting, I thought, in that at first it offered a sense of anticipation, as if the narrator wants, and expects to be able, to return to that time and place. And then in the closing paragraph the awakening to the reality that the memory or dream is all they have.