Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
[...] One of Dick's comments about the boys, "But I could have done without them," seemed exceptionally cold to me. Especially given their father was dead; it would be more complicated with a living father. The boys' names, too, were significant, both American and infantilizing and even less than human. Impossible to see them with thinking Mickey Mouse and Teddy bear.
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I had taken "I could have done without them" to mean just then. Vita and the boys had arrived at an awkward time (it was all going to be awkward while he was obsessed/addicted), I imagined he could have done without all of them right then. Maybe it was meant more generally, which would be very cold, but perhaps make some allowance for Dick's mood at the time.
Maybe I have some sort of Americanophobia
, but the names didn't strike me as anything other than appropriate for American kids of that era.