Taking this as acceptance, Lew continued to perform chores assigned him, some commonplace, others strange beyond easy reckoning, transacted in languages he didn't always understand, until he began to feel some approach, out at the fringe of his awareness, like a streetcar in the city distance, and some fateful, perhaps dangerous, invitation to climb aboard and be taken off to parts unknown . . . .
* * * * * * * * * *
Lew Basnight's life and this streetcar intrigue me! I recently said, riffing on Ghost World, "My only regret when I die will be never wandering away from my home town on a mystery bus, leaving everything in the past forever." My best friend from high school responded, "Didn't you do that in your Volkswagen?" It was such a joyful revelation. How had I never made the connection? I suppose, subconsciously, it's why I loved Ghost World so much.
I don't know what Lew's streetcar symbolizes. A new life if he simply chooses to forget the guilt and leave his past behind him forever? Or is the streetcar the atonement, the vehicle waiting to take him to the next step in life if he can only gain the knowledge to find it and the courage to climb on board?
Ultimately, we see Lew has gotten with the program, whatever the program is. He's doing the steps, no matter how strange and unlikely they are to help him. He's putting his trust in Drave and Drave's plan. It's his work on Drave's plan, losing himself in doing the steps, that brings on the revelation of the metaphorical or mystical streetcar ready to transport him into a new life. Earlier, Lew tried to hop a train into Chicago to run from his old life but his old life followed him. Now he's learned he can't just flee; he has to prepare and strengthen himself and make a thoughtful and considered move into his future.
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