sandbaggers: Neil's roots

Neil's roots

Anton Sherwood (dasher@netcom.com)
Tue, 19 Sep 1995 23:26:20 -0700

Burnside strikes me as just the sort who, by hard work, might
obliterate any trace of his origins. His office and apartment
lack any personal touches -- because he's afraid that by
personalizing them, he'd betray lowly tastes? He might even
have given up drinking for fear of letting his accent slip.

Ponder this: Is Neil's mother alive?

Did he use Belinda - consciously or unconsciously - for his own
social advancement, and drop her when she had served his purpose?
I guess not; her father would see through that, and not forgive it.

--
Gayle says:
> [...] I know I would grant him more leeway if he wasn't so right wing,

What do we know of his politics, apart from his fervent anticommunism? I'd call Neil soft on socialism (though his methods amount to sinking to the other guy's level), and I'm not right-wing in the usual sense.

> but even a character I found more politically sympathetic > I would despise for something like the Alan Denson episode.

Thanks for reminding me of that. I tend to forget the pre-Laura episodes. A question about that episode:

Many of the episode titles express an ironic connection between two plot elements or parallel subplots. For example, "A Proper Function of Government" is what Wellingham says assassinating African tyrants isn't (but evidently knocking over British defectors is). "Special Relationship" is overtly about SIS and CIA, but also Neil and Laura.

There's one title of which I can't make head or tail: "Is Your Journey Really Necessary?", in which Alan dies crossing the street. Can someone elucidate?

*\\* Anton Ubi scriptum?