"James Mansson ARGO" jmansson@argo-software.co.uk wrote: : ----- Original Message ----- : From: "Kathryn Andersen" kat@foobox.net : To: "Blake's 7 list" blakes7@lists.lysator.liu.se : Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2001 10:43 PM : Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Orbit
: > Looking good in the others' eyes has never been a factor in Avon's : > decisions. If anything, the reverse: he he comes up with pragmatic : > reasons for the altruistic things that he does, thus making himself look : > worse than he is. : > : > To Avon, survival and pragmatism are his stated guides. Anyone who lets : > sentiment get in the way of that has his contempt (which is why Blake : > puzzled him so). So "looking good in front of the others" is irrelevant : > -- unless you're saying that he's *so* afraid of them that it would be : > anti-survival for them to think less of him. Which isn't the case, : > IMHO. : > : > (I'm not sure I'm explaining this well. Oh well.) : > : > Kathryn Andersen
: Avon certainly gives the impression of not caring what others think of him.
: On the other hand, he does accuse Blake of manipulation and yet also : acknowledges the effectiveness of such manipulation.
: >From a pragmatic point of view, Avon cannot ignore what the others in the : group think of him - otherwise they wouldn't follow him. This doesn't mean : that he has to be nice to them - the "hard man" approach can be just as : effective.
: Possibly, Avon achieves this by accident - he really doesn't care but just : finds that the others follow him anyway.
I think he cares and would rather it weren't so but believes enough in his own superiority that for the sake of his own skin (and possibly for the others though he'd never admit it) he has to take charge to keep them all alive. Not because he has a drive to be in charge, but because he needs it to get done properly.
: I'm inclined to think that there is at least some element of calculation in : how he treats his crew members. For instance, he does seem to have some : insight in how to handle Vila. E.g. he is aware how Tarrant's handling of : Vila in "City" is a bad idea.
: So I suppose what I'm saying is that the "Avon doesn't give a damn" : viewpoint is misleading. He may well not give a damn on a personal level, : but he is surely aware that how he presents himself is important.
Ah, but I (and I suspect Kathryn) see that "City" scene differently. I think Avon is hurt by Vila's obvious fear in that scene. He has to come up with a pragmatic reason Tarrant shouldn't have done it before he'll speak up about it, because as Kathryn says he feels the need to show only the pragmatic aspect of himself--"A talented thief is rare"-- but I think he definitely has personal feelings involved, of friendship toward Vila.
Claudia