Civilization in the Wild

There were a couple things that caught my attention in Jaynestown, the quick discussion of language at the beginning, the idea of Jayne as a kind of hero that isn’t really all that heroic, and the doctor’s need to act proper out in the wild.  While it was only a quick discussion between Kaylee and the doctor, his line about how acting properly out in the wild was more important than acting properly anywhere else stood out.  It seems to fit in well with a lot of the books we’ve read, because in the midst of the Wild West, there has always been some source of what is good and proper or simply more befitting of modern city standards.  In the Plum Plum Pickers, Margarita gazed longingly on the statues and was excited to have the refrigerator.  Also in that book there was the control Mrs. Turner had, because of her husband and her ability to set the standards propriety followed. 

In regards to Jaynestown, the doctor was fascinating because he did fit.  He was useful on the job in the episode, because his dress and attitude portrayed that of a buyer, which was something the others desperately needed so as not to attract too much attention.  It is his contrast to the others that makes their actions mean something, I haven’t watched the entirety of Firefly yet, but I thought I recalled something about the Dr. Simon having worked within the Alliance before helping break his out sister.  I like this way of bringing “proper” society to Serenity, because all of our books have had shadows of the things that were left behind or that the protagonists were trying to escape.