More intentionally vague dialogue I wrote and interpretations in elicited in March 1992:
A: Well, that does it!
B: What, you're giving up?
A: Why not? This is hopeless!
B: I think we can still salvage it.
A: It's beyond repair!
B: There are a a lot of uses you haven't considered...
A: I doubt that. Let's just scrap this and start over.
B: Well, I'm holding onto it.
A: Why?!
B: It'll come in handy.
A: This can't be fixed!
B: Just watch me.
Questions: Who are A and B? What are they discussing? What does A think can't be salvaged, and why? Why is B more optimistic?
Responses:
...A and B are lovers who are very narcissistic. They are arguing about the bathroom mirror, a central point/necessity of their lives, which has, for no apparent reason, committed suicide by leaping off the wall and shattering in the sink. A has been trying to repair the mirror for the past three hours but is getting glue all over his/her hands and is making a mess of the job. B wants to save the mirror because secretly, B is a jigsaw puzzle fanatic and could've put the mirror together in a matter of minutes. Unbeknownst to A, B is going to save the mirror, repair it, and hide it for him/herself. (Jenni S.)
...A and B are symbolic of any couple, be they friends, partners, or lovers. They represent the theory, "Opposites attract," to the extreme. B must cling to everything from the past. A represents the one who must shed the past. Both are insecure, yet they must express their anxieties in different ways. (Karen W.)
