Love in Another Perspective

Parents may teach their children Ў§Put yourself in someoneЎ¦s shoesЎЁ when coming upon an argument. This idiom basically means that one will see something different when looking at an event in another perspective. An event or argument may not be as one sees it in his or her own eyes. In a similar way, the situation in Max ShulmanЎ¦s Love is a Fallacy can be viewed in many perspectives. The narrator, assumed to be Max, speaks of his plan of making his roommateЎ¦s Ў§future-girlfriend,ЎЁ Polly Espy, to go out with him. His plan starts when he hears that his roommate, Petely Bellows, wants a raccoon coat, for it is very popular at his school. Max, upon hearing his desire, decides to give his dadЎ¦s old raccoon coat to Petey in exchange for Polly. Although Max finally Ў§hasЎЁ Polly, he decides to wait on asking her to go out with him. The main reason for this is that Max thinks Polly is not logical. In fact, Max teaches several fallacies to her on five consecutive nights. In the end, Polly does learn how to think, but goes out with Petey and his raccoon coat, and uses the fallacies Max taught her against him. The plan that Max thought was perfect backfires. However, in another perspective, Petey may have calculated and predicted everything, including MaxЎ¦s action and plan. Perhaps, in PeteyЎ¦s point of view, there is only one plan in the beginning: PeteyЎ¦s plan. As the new narrator, Petey may give different personalities to Max, Polly, and himself. Telling ShulmanЎ¦s story in another perspective, Petey may change the opinions of many readers through the

In PeteyЎ¦s point of view, this story changes if MaxЎ¦s plan has always been a part of PeteyЎ¦s bigger strategy. All along, Max believes that his plan was perfect, until his plan backfired with PollyЎ¦s agreement on going out with MaxЎ¦s roommate, Petey Bellows. Max may think that he made mistakes on his plan, but this may not be the case if Petey is telling the story. Perhaps Petey knows about MaxЎ¦s plan all along, and is the only one who has an actual plan. As MaxЎ¦s roommate, Petey probably already knows either that Max has a raccoon coat or that Max has enough money to get one. Petey also knows that Max has some feelings for Polly, especially for her looks. Petey then uses MaxЎ¦s feelings for Polly to get a raccoon coat. Petey tells Max how much he wants a raccoon coat and expresses strongly that heЎ¦ll Ў§give anything for a raccoon coatЎЁ (364). As MaxЎ¦s roommate, Petey probably predicts that Max will think of a plan immediately. Precisely, Max does the exact thing. Max brings in a raccoon coat, and in the end, Petey agrees to exchange Polly for the raccoon coat. Max feels that everything is going according to his plan, but so is Petey. As a matter of fact, Petey uses Polly to aid his plan.

As the narrator and mastermind of his plan, Petey probably asks Polly to cooperate with Petey on his plan. Perhaps Polly agrees because Petey is already her boyfriend or she wants a raccoon coat herself. Either way, Polly follows PeteyЎ¦s plan and goes out with Max Petey probably wants Polly to pretend to be dumb since he knows Max looks down on everyone. In fact, Max only goes out with her since it is Ў§easier to make a beautiful dumb girl smart than to make an ugly smart girl beautifulЎЁ (364). Polly continues to fool Max into believing that she is a dumb girl. However, when Max asks Polly to be his girlfriend, Polly reveals PeteyЎ¦s plan by denying MaxЎ¦s request. Polly even denies Max using the fallacies he taught her. In the end, PeteyЎ¦s plan Ў§winsЎЁ and teaches Max a lesson. From the very beginning, Petey and Polly probably wants Max to stop boasting about himself and stop being so proud of himself. PeteyЎ¦s plan works and Petey ends up with both the raccoon coat and Polly while Max suffers a shocking lesson.

Not only does the story transform in PeteyЎ¦s point of view, PeteyЎ¦s personality also changes. Petey will have a new personality in which he is not Ў§dumb as an oxЎЁ (363). In fact, Petey is the one whoЎ¦s smart and cunning since his plan works against Max. In addition, PeteyЎ¦s intelligence shouldnЎ¦t differ very much. Max and Petey go to the same university, and the same university usually doesnЎ¦t accept students that differ a lot in terms of intelligence. At least, the university wonЎ¦t accept