[ Doing good makes you good. Huh. Interesting. That'll sit for a minute; not long, but — a thought he hasn't considered.
By some measures — maybe on the outside looking in — Amos has done good, in the sense of...the kind of good he's learned from others. The kind that mimics, the kind that he doesn't think really comes from him in any meaningful way. He has to tug it on, figure out how to wear it, how it fits. Like goodness is a thing he tries to do everyday, like a habit, and not like breathing, not the action that comes without thought.
If he's done any good at all, it's not because of him, nothing innate inside of him. So any good actions he takes don't make him good. That switch got turned off. But it seems clear to him the same can't be said for the kid in front of him. He's good in the way that should be protected, encouraged. Or at least, he seems to value it highly enough that Amos thinks of him that way.
That being said —
— what else there is... ]
You're saying it's a family business, and it's all you've ever done. But not really all you've ever done?
[ How literal is this? Based on his tone, it may or may not sound like an interrogation, and while he genuinely wants to know, it's not his intent to seem like he's grilling him without a purpose.
Other than a family of some kind of security or military, he's wondering what kind of family business this is. ]
no subject
By some measures — maybe on the outside looking in — Amos has done good, in the sense of...the kind of good he's learned from others. The kind that mimics, the kind that he doesn't think really comes from him in any meaningful way. He has to tug it on, figure out how to wear it, how it fits. Like goodness is a thing he tries to do everyday, like a habit, and not like breathing, not the action that comes without thought.
If he's done any good at all, it's not because of him, nothing innate inside of him. So any good actions he takes don't make him good. That switch got turned off. But it seems clear to him the same can't be said for the kid in front of him. He's good in the way that should be protected, encouraged. Or at least, he seems to value it highly enough that Amos thinks of him that way.
That being said —
— what else there is... ]
You're saying it's a family business, and it's all you've ever done. But not really all you've ever done?
[ How literal is this? Based on his tone, it may or may not sound like an interrogation, and while he genuinely wants to know, it's not his intent to seem like he's grilling him without a purpose.
Other than a family of some kind of security or military, he's wondering what kind of family business this is. ]