Posted by John Richardson on December 01, 1998 at 14:49:05:
In Reply to: Re: Commander Walker's telegrams posted by Rebecca on November 29, 1998 at 23:09:30:
Definitely for fun - but is the humour internal or external? - i.e. is AR having fun and injecting comedy into the story by ignoring the more sensible (and boring) course of action that Rebecca suggests; or is the joke inside the book and one consciously entered into by Ted Walker - at some expense.
I favour the latter. But it must be borne in mind that all Cmdr Walker's telegrams employ a little suspension of disbelief: would a father really be as nonchalant as to send the "Better drowned..." one liner to a worried wife, allowing a child (Roger) who could not even swim to go on a voyage in a boat with no enclosed bouyancy and no life jackets.....