Question of the week #42

[treonb]

In the season two episode "New Car," Philip and Elizabeth had a discussion about life in the U.S. that ended with Elizabeth saying that "easier is not always better."

What do you think the main differences are between how Philip and Elizabeth see life in the U.S.? And how about people like Nina, Arkady, and Oleg, who are viewing the U.S. from more obviously external perspectives--what do they think about life in the U.S.? 

You can expect spoilers for the entire first two seasons in the comments.

(There's no expiration date on these questions, so if you're reading this post months later and feel like jumping in, please do.)

Comments

[cadma]

I think all the Soviet characters are aware of how they're *supposed* to see life in the US -- as based on exploitation etc -- and they must all agree with this to some extent or they wouldn't have committed to working for the USSR in the ways they have. But not everything they experience is going to fit into this picture, and I think Philip accepts this more easily than Elizabeth does. She seems to be more inclined to explain things in terms of some bigger phenomenon -- so Paige going to church is because she's seduced by the opiate of the masses which holds up the whole of society. For Philip it's more individual -- Paige happens to like the music or the people. So I think Elizabeth if she gets new shoes probably does find it hard to think of them independently of the system which produced them, whereas for Philip it's more compartmentalised. He does seem kind of guilty about the car when he sees her reaction though, without her needing to say anything or even look that judgmental. And he wants her validation for how he feels about it, so I don't think he's totally ok with the system.