>
> Here's a question for those of you reading this: Burnside seems
> incapable of treating his secretary as a human. Is this a
> part of his basic personality problem, being self consummed by his
> "mission" in life, or is it a protection from permitting anyone
> to get close to him?
>
Good question, Barry. It's always hard to guess why a character
acts the way he does; with Neil Burnside, it's almost impossible.
Yet Neil did act differently towards his secretaries. When the
first one quit to get married, Neil was visibly upset that she
didn't want to stay on (sorry, I want to say her name is Diane, but
I can't keep the secretaries' name straight). Neil seemed to take
it personally, so obviously his administrative staff was important
to him. Whether they were important to him professionally or
personally is the question.
Karen Yost