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[Oct. 1947]
unnecessary

Dear folks,

This letter should be entitled:  "Specific Reactions to Letter Today Received."  My intention is to set you on the right feet as to how to best direct the content of your minds toward my mind; in other words, the right approach.  I notice that you fumble and wonder much, and seem [[strikethrough]] completely [[/strikethrough]] often to misunderstand my meanings. Richards was saying only yesterday [[strikethrough]] that [[/strikethrough]] of Phionix [[sic]] in his plea to Achilles whom he had charge of as boy, that he understood him as most parents do their children, very little. 

In the first place, you have not got such a brain [[strikethrough]] of an infant [[/strikethrough]] child or such a stupid fool [[strikethrough]] of one [[/strikethrough]] as you seem to take me for.  As brain I am muchly confused by college life and find it very difficult to orient myself in most of my subjects, especially to Govt, political theory that is, on account of not being able to compare and think fast enough.  Also do not expect to find me assistant manager to the school paper tomorrow:  I am really a poor cub among twenty others, the paper staff is quite large, and it contains many brilliant and experienced girls--those who are familiar with theatre, books, and all movements of day, all of which I am grossly unfamiliar with. It is much work, but I am determined to cling close to all means to larger insight on what is going on, and to meet people.  Girls, that is.

As you already know, Louise won't arrive for at least a term. Why not stop hiding the fact that you wish she wouldn't arrive under cloak of "It is good too that Louise hasn't arrived to catch the cold from Jean."  Louise would have been good experience, but probably not so good as many other things, and diverting at that.  We are perhaps too confused ourselves to try and orient anyone less highly clinging.

David's father is a prof of economics at N C university.  Does it matter if he be northern or southern?  Jean's father took a little askance your pointing out that he was northern, after all a good egg if he came from the north.  I know perfectly well that I won't go out with any one whom I hate, you don't have to give [[strikethrough]] you that [[/strikethrough]] me that advice.  As a matter of fact, David is nice but very barren in thought, or maybe it is I that am barren; anyway, from last Wed night I gather that he likes me a lot--I can never figure out why such things happen--and I am willing to go out agian [[sic]], but not if there are better offerings as at present there are in form of Dick Seed.

Barber surprises me by his contradictoriness--his respect of you as evidenced by taking us on trip and being so nice--and his blind hatred in other respects.  Clearly his mind is not well orientated.

Did you like Aurelio because he liked things Greek?  Enphasis [[sic]] now seems not to be on [[strikethrough]] whether amman [[/strikethrough]] the goodness of something because [[strikethrough]] they [[/strikethrough]] of themselves, not on what era they came from; we ought to know that no era can claim real superiority, and that the superiority of a work of lit is due to keeness of writer seeing own age or self or other persons and not to what age it was written in--though sometimes it is much easier for writer to use materials of age because of favorable conditions for fusion in age's mind as well as his.

Jolly--I'm sorry, she's such a [[strikethrough]] eh [[/strikethrough]] household commodity I didn't think to explain: Jolly otherwise known but by none of us as Joline Grenburg; roomes alone across hall; is plump and bright-colored, wears her hair in lovely page-boy roll; is forever worrying about what to wear and coming in to ask--she is very lonely--closely tied up with her home town, Springfield Mass from which she