In search of an honest person

[C James]

Is it your contention that Trevor is only required to obey US Laws. He knew he was breaking the laws of Greece.

 

Trevor, via Joel, he the solution to his money problems suddenly show up on his doorstep. He was in dire need of money, so what did he decide to do? Work for it.

 

Now, as for Greek law, I'll mention that the Greek government was, at the time, in flagrant and fraudulent violation of said Greek laws. I'll explain in my reply lower down.

 

And for Martin, the issues you raised are moot; he was not involved with Rachel's arrival or the immediate coverup. So, he did nothing illegal. It doesn't matter if he later knew; he was under no legal onus to report any crimes. Were crimes committed (such as a forged registration)? Yes, but not by Martin. It doesn't matter if he knows; he's not breaking the law by not reporting it.

For the australian mathematics issue... Forgive me, MArty, but ti sounds to me as if you just don't understand Australian Math. I'll be posting more about that subject in the thread for the coming chapter, Death & Taxes, in a few miniutes.

 

............. There is a point here about Lisa, Lisa ASKED if she could remove items from Dirk's store, that was not dishonest. Again Lisa never disavowed her her relationship to Joel with her father, she never lied about it, therefore was not dishonest about it. Concealment of facts is not dishonesty, in Lisa's case she told the truth to her father, yet neglected to inform him of her tryst with Joel at Bridget's guesthouse. That is the only fault I find with Lisa, yet was she dis-honest? Or just not forcoming.

 

Marty, early in the thread, said he was laooking for lawbreakers, not just dishonesty, so that makes this even easier. Lisa asked permission, and was refused, regarding the chandlery. That's not illegal.

 

In regard to the topic, if there are no shades of gray, then the main characters like the vast majority of people on the planet are less than perfect.

 

Mark Twain had much to say on the topic. Here are some of his quotes:

 

"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't."

 

"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please."

 

"Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it."

 

Twain is one of my favorites.

To be fair to Trevor, I think that recent events have adequately proven that nobody else in Greece was paying any taxes in 2006. Why should Trevor be the only one?

 

And the national government of Greece was also, at that time, in massive violation of the laws of Greece and the EU, and attempting to cover it up by fraud. They are treaty bound (a condition of EU entry) to have deficits no higher than 3% of GDP, and total debet no greater than 60% of GDP. They have never even come close to abiding by the law, and went further by attempting to hide their financial condition through massive accounting fraud. So, it's hard to blame Trevor for breaking the laws of a government that is itself a criminal on a massive scale.

Presumably the point of writing fiction is to have readers that want to read it? Of course, I could be entirely wrong about this

 

So, can anyone name any interesting and "honest" fictional character that gripped them and kept making them want to turn the pages? Come on, be honest now

 

Well, from my point of view, the #1 goal for me in writing is to keep it 100% cliffhanger free, but a close second is to try to keep my characters realistic. That means that sometimes, just like any other person, they'll do things that are controversial. No one is 100% good or bad, because the world in which we live is one of shades of grey, not absolutes.

One thing for sure, it looks like running illegal charters may be an inherited trait.

 

Trevor is his mother's son. She liked to push the limits, sometimes too far. So in some ways does Trevor, and this is one of them. He's also hinted, early on, at Rachel's infleunce, such as quoting her "it's not illegal if you don't get caught". Trevor is showing some traits from his mother, as he does from his father. Good or bad traits they may be, but in my experiance, children usually do pick up some traits from their parents. What they do with them in the long run is up to them.

[MartyS]

Presumably the point of writing fiction is to have readers that want to read it? Of course, I could be entirely wrong about this

 

So, can anyone name any interesting and "honest" fictional character that gripped them and kept making them want to turn the pages? Come on, be honest now

 

 

Hi Zombie,

I would like to explain how I consider this. If I am reading a fictional story and one of the characters commits a crime, I do not have a problem with that. It is part of the plot.

However, if someone in the storyline or somebody posts here in the Forum, that the illegal act IS NOT a violation of law, that I object to.

 

Many years ago I had a neighbor who was, IMO, a typical bleeding heart liberal. Juvenile Delinquents who broke the law were Misunderstood and needed help and therapy. One Monday morning I stopped for my morning coffee. There was my liberal neighbor spewing forth how they ought to put those JDs away for life. I asked the waiter was i really hearing this from our Flatbush Liberal. The server responded, "Oh yes!" "His wife got mugged Saurday evening."

 

After reading Chapters 98 and 99 I realized Dirk and Rachel were no different than 99 % of the inmates in prison. They say they are innocent, were framed or it is a big mistake.

[C James]

After reading Chapters 98 and 99 I realized Dirk and Rachel were no different than 99 % of the inmates in prison. They say they are innocent, were framed or it is a big mistake.

 

I don't recall Dirk ever saying he was innocent of anything except murder? (and as we've seen, he clearly did not murder Bridget's husband or his own wife, so he was, in fact, innocent of those charges). Oh, he also said he was innocent of trying to kill Trevor.

 

And Dirk was indeed framed. And as he admitted, he did the framing for Rachel's murder, and then Bridget and George framed him for Arnold Bellevue and the attempted killing of Trevor..

 

I'm not saying he's committed no crimes (quite clearly, he has) but I don't recall him saying he's innocent of them (except the ones he clearly is innocent of, above). Even Frank, who would say anything at all, true or not, hasn't, as I recall, claimed innocence for Dirk except for what he's clearly actually innocent of.

 

And as Dirk as said several times over the course of this story, regarding Trevor, "When he learns the truth, he'll hate me, and he'll have every right". That doesn't sound like a man claiming he's absolutely innocent to me.

[Winemaker]

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: American King James Version. A very old observation of the human condition