| Re: RAH Reading Group - The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
As far as female characters go, I liked Gwen plenty. A little off TCWWTW perhaps, but which Heinlein character do you think is the most believable as a woman? Which Heinlein character is your favourite woman?
As far as Bill, I think he serves two and possibly even three purposes. First is to display characteristics or an attitude in society which he disliked, which gave him the ability to vent on what he perceived were social ills of his time...specifically in the scene when Gwen and Richard fight and even more so when they make up. Secondly, he was demonstrating a point made by one of his major influences, Twain, who said "If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." Finally, and this one is FAR less likely I admit, but perhaps he was supposed to be an agent from another group of time tinkerers that Heinlein muses about later in the book, and that he was just playing a role to get closer to Ames and keep an eye on him, kill him if necessary. |