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Originally Posted by colmywaykurtz  Elric's intriguing, certainly, but my favorite manifestation of the EC is one I've not heard mentioned here yet---Oswald Bastable. He seems to have a genuine concern with doing good, and for all of that recognizes that's not enough---the Balance must be appeased, too. I find him the most tragic in that way, yet he sucks it up and goes on---"quiet desperation is the English way." |
I've always found Bastable to be a mixture of a satire of and a tribute to the Colonial officers. Certainly he begins as an insufferable prig, in many ways, but he becomes increasingly warm and human as the stories go on. While he's by no means my favorite, I've got to agree that he doesn't get the mention he deserves....