It seemed the older he grew—and he had grown old—the more he understood that he could not understand this confusing contest between good and evil, and that maybe people were not meant to understand things here on earth.
I am very fond of Tommy Guptill, (I love him) and I wanted him to reflect all that is good here on Earth. His kindness to Pete Barton is a symbol of that—Pete Barton who never hurt another person. And so, as I was writing about Tommy I went deeper and deeper into his sense of the world, and I came up with these lines. It seemed to be something Tommy would genuinely feel, and wonder about. As I wrote Oh William! I used the very same technique of always trying and trying to feel what it is like to be another person. Lucy’s brother Pete is a good person, and so is Tommy Guptill. And so somehow these words arrived to me, Tommy’s wonderment at the good and evil contest he sees played out in this world, and that he could not figure it out. So, he thought: Maybe we are not supposed to be able to figure it out. (Sweet man.)
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