Grampa Jim, the enemy within.
Jan. 19th, 2007 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreadedcandiru2It might seem at first glance that Elly's dad would be the revered patriarch of the Land of Foob, and keeper of all its wisdom. This, however, is not the case. He is regarded as a sweet but misguided old man, filling April's head with silly notions. I mean, in LJ's eyes he was probably one step away from senility before his recent stroke robbed him of his voice. Why else he spout such loony fantasies as a fulfilling life without accumulating junk or crapping out children with doormat. Those were the noble and good principles he raised Elly with. Fortunately, the Foob god has robbed him of his voice, and with it the power to mislead the youth with his facts, just as it struck down Lizardbreath the Ever-Virginal's would-be mentor Miss Edwards for her unFoobiness. It also puts paid for his hateful lack of faith in Holy Mother Eleanor herself. He knavishly paid for a college education with the incomprehensible belief that she would get a DEGREE instead of a husband!! That way lies the defeminizing horror of the working world. Fortunately, he has the lesser consolation of care by Iris the Well-intentioned Diingbat.
This attempt of hers to edit history by having her late father's fictional equivalent hang around addresses two main issues. The first problem with having your elderly father around is that he may have begun to doubt the values he raised you with, which is especially horrifying to Damaged-Goods Lynn. The Depression era worship of material possessions and traditional values is all this tragicomic figure has to cling to, especially since when Drunk-ass Mommy was lighting into her, she threatened Lynnie that she'd have neither. (Racist threats of having to 'settle' for her 'inferiors' probably also explain her dread of the Other, also.) She's stayed put ideologically to prove to Mater and Pater she is a good little girl despite everything. As time passed on, a lot of people of his era might have re-evaluated their position based on new evidence. The second is that he could establish himself (and had so done) as a competing authority in the household. He might go so far as to say 'Elly, you're my daughter and I love you, but let's face it: you're full of crap about this Rebecca girl. In fact, you're full of it about a lot of people.'
This attempt of hers to edit history by having her late father's fictional equivalent hang around addresses two main issues. The first problem with having your elderly father around is that he may have begun to doubt the values he raised you with, which is especially horrifying to Damaged-Goods Lynn. The Depression era worship of material possessions and traditional values is all this tragicomic figure has to cling to, especially since when Drunk-ass Mommy was lighting into her, she threatened Lynnie that she'd have neither. (Racist threats of having to 'settle' for her 'inferiors' probably also explain her dread of the Other, also.) She's stayed put ideologically to prove to Mater and Pater she is a good little girl despite everything. As time passed on, a lot of people of his era might have re-evaluated their position based on new evidence. The second is that he could establish himself (and had so done) as a competing authority in the household. He might go so far as to say 'Elly, you're my daughter and I love you, but let's face it: you're full of crap about this Rebecca girl. In fact, you're full of it about a lot of people.'
