Journal #34 Henry James: Annoying Characters!

QUOTE:

“Daisy gave a violent laugh. ‘I never heard anything so stiff! If this is improper, Mrs. Walker,” she pursued, “then I am all improper, and you must give me up. Good-bye” (James 416).


SUMMARY:

Winterbourne and Mrs. Walker both try to advise Daisy to get into Mrs. Walker’s carriage instead of walking around town with Mr. Giovanelli.


RESPONSE:

When I read this section, all I could think about was how Mrs. Walker and Winterbourne “lose” Daisy by giving her advice that she never really asks for. I couldn’t decide if Daisy was in control and “playing” Winterbourne, or if she was just a stupid girl; however this behavior of hers makes her seem like a “wannabe” rebel. Maybe Daisy was trying to take a stand against having to do everything the “proper” way, so she makes bad decisions just to prove her point. Not to say that refusing to get in Mrs. Walker’s carriage just to save face is necessarily a bad decision, but in Daisy’s situation of being in a foreign country, I think she would have been much better off listening to her acquaintances.

The choices Daisy makes may be “sticking it” to all of the “stiff” social types, but she really is walking a dangerous path. Mr. Giovanelli may actually be a good friend to her, but that doesn’t change the fact that she doesn’t really know him. If Daisy really feels like making a statement about societal issues, it probably isn’t the best plan to make them so far away from her own country. Not only is there a potentially fatal disease to be worried about, any number of things could happen to Daisy if she puts too much trust in strangers.

Even the trust Daisy puts in Winterbourne isn’t very wise. She doesn’t even know him, and even the readers don’t exactly know him. James doesn’t give full details about what Winterbourne is really like; only that he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to finish “school,” and that he may have some type of “sugar-momma.” At this point in the reading, I stopped caring about what was going to happen.