"When writers send characters south, it's so they can run amok" (Foster 171).
Foster's right - generally.
Heat is associated with loose morals, loose women, and loose tax laws.
I can't tell you how many books I have read where there is a life changing event in Mexico.
Because, in Mexico... anything is possible?
Why? Because it's hot.
And for some reason, we associate heat with relaxed atmospheres and less than Puritanical belief sets.
Which, I guess, when it comes to fiestas and siestas is true.
But it is weird... because when the heat comes North...
to say a classroom in North NJ...
that is over 98 degrees on the first day...
well, there is no passion, flavor, or flare.
There is just sweat and whining.
I don't know if I ever really understood this whole south-amok thing.
When I get hot, I get sleepy.
When I read this, I thought of that Meursault dude from 'The Stranger' killing a guy because it was hot. You're totally right.
ReplyDeleteAnd ugh, a 98 degree classroom does not sound fun at all. At least it kept them quiet, right?