Pale Fire: Illustrated Sports Illustrated Sports Pale Fire Journal | Page 37

apply [that word] to a person who deliberately peels off a drab an unhappy past
and replaces it with a brilliant invention” (238). Replace - I guess that’s one
word for it. I mean, I’m still here. I just … wanted to be someone else for a little
bit. I didn’t want to just remain Hazel - the girl whose best trait was being only
kind of weird. “She had strange fears, strange fantasies, strange force / Of charac-
ter … ” (45). Strange, repeated over and over. Not insane, not disturbing, just …
strange. Unusual. That’s the best I could hope for. Of all the things I put them
through, I suppose this “fantasy,” this “character” I forced upon them wasn’t too
much of a stretch. My mother certainly didn’t like it, but … I think she under-
stood. To a degree.
DR. GREYSON
Speaking of your mother - where does all her animosity towards Kinbote come
from?
HAZEL SHADE
We never had the strongest relationship to begin with, and especially not after
the … incident..
DR. GREYSON
How so?
HAZEL SHADE
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