Re: RARA-AVIS: Helm

Robert E. Skinner (rskinner@mail.xula.edu)
Tue, 26 Jan 1999 13:33:15 -0600 Mbdlevin@aol.com wrote:
>
> Essentially, you agree to a sort of brainwashing that will make you better . . . members would believe that they could burst into room, kill three bad guys, and remove a hostage unharmed. No good reason to hold
such a belief, but it was adopted anyway.>

I think that explains why commandos, SEALs, and other special weapons
and tactics types do achieve the miracles they sometimes do (we don't
always hear about the ones that fail--and certainly there are some) and,
I think, lends some credibility to Helm as a character. After all,
Mac's secret, unnamed organization is "the wrecking crew," the people
who are sent in when an unspoken but unassailable message is to be sent
or a lesson to be taught to the Enemy. These unnamed and faceless
agents do have unusual confidence in themselves, or they wouldn't
continually go out on suicide missions. Notice, too, that some of
Helm's most desperate encounters are those in which he faces a rogue
from his own agency or someone from the opposite side with the same work
ethic.

-- 
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Robert E. Skinner, Director
Xavier University of Louisiana Library
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