Re: JCO: We were the Mulvaneys

Hi Julie,

The main problem I have with the Atkins article is that she seems to feel that it is insignificant that the woman in "Naked" is not raped. That the attackers are literally pre-adolescent children suggests the pains JCO is taking to indicate that this is not a "sexual" assault. It seems JCO wants to get her protagonist into a particular symbolic situation -- having to travel home naked through the countryside -- but does not want the means of creating this situation -- the attack -- to carry more significance than a random violent act. Atkins argues that what happened to the woman has the same "script" as a rape, and therefore is a rape. The whole article is based on this premise, but I think the premise misreads the story.

Randy

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