tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075045779850681691.post6314560046260253542..comments2023-03-25T08:19:54.539-05:00Comments on Nanda Mama: The Tree of LifeNanda Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12880371285355541360noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075045779850681691.post-82982134843663368672010-03-20T19:31:29.424-05:002010-03-20T19:31:29.424-05:00Consciously, I made the protagonist a girl because...Consciously, I made the protagonist a girl because it's standard procedure to throw a wrinkle like that into a sequel, but perhaps unconsciously I was thinking that a female would be more giving and nurturing. We do all have mothers, after all. <br /><br />Stick figures I can do myself. I'll see if R. Crumb will do it. Worked for Harvey Pekar.Matthew Marcushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02755425141667253110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075045779850681691.post-35724321602208949922010-03-19T12:39:42.573-05:002010-03-19T12:39:42.573-05:00Matt,
I cannot decide whether to write my response...Matt,<br />I cannot decide whether to write my response here or to your email but I think here so maybe others will join the conversation - if it is intended to be a conversation.<br />1. I find it interesting that you identified with the tree "a little" and wonder if that is due to your highly-developed sense of being in the world or if other men would also identify with the tree.<br />2. One-sided relationships are never good - even with trees. Probably especially with trees because they do not carry recognized currency in the world. So, then perhaps it is the highly awake person who would see that they needed to give back to the earth that which they took.<br />3. I get the joke about the illegitimate child - and I think that would be a really interesting sequel.<br />4. And of course you are expecting me to jump all over your idea of the child being a girl and having a more nuanced relationship with the "stump" where she gives back in the way the "boy" neither could not nor recognized that he needed to. <br />5. I could illustrate it but it would only be stick figures!<br />:) Thanks for your comments I really appreciate them.Nanda Mamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12880371285355541360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075045779850681691.post-14853748985855505452010-03-19T11:50:04.442-05:002010-03-19T11:50:04.442-05:00I'm with you about the giving tree, sort of. ...I'm with you about the giving tree, sort of. The tree gets satisfaction from giving. I always thought of it as male, maybe because identified with the tree a little. It's a very one-sided relationship, which would be unhealthy if they were both people, but the tree is just a tree, and all he/she can reasonably expect from the "boy" is the opportunity to be useful. <br /><br />If I were going to write a sequel, the old man would have an illegitimate child (seriously--with all that traveling he did, how could he not have one or two) who befriends the tree stump, but they have a much more nuanced relationship because the The Giving Stump doesn't have much to offer, and the child (probably a daughter) has to be creative to make the stump feel important. I'll write the story if someone will illustrate it.Matthew Marcushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02755425141667253110noreply@blogger.com