James Tate hired Willie because he was a character.
James had Willie carrying a little bundle of straw
on his back. James was boss. Willie didn't want to
carry a little bundle of straw on his back. Willie
wanted to go to Wal-Mart and take an aspirin, use
some deodorant, gargle, try some new cologne, push
a buggy and fill it with wishes, then put everything
back but the extreme needs like chewing gum and road
flares. Willie went on strike, laid the little bundle
of straw down, and caught a rickshaw going to Wal-Mart.
On the way the driver robbed Willie of all his money,
his right pant leg, his Good Conduct Medal, and his
special coin with 911 on it reminding him what to do
in an emergency. The coin didn't say what to do when
a robber points a derringer at a very important part
of the body. The rickshaw robber went back to get the
little bundle of straw. James Tate hired him to be his
golf cart driver if he gave up the derringer and if he
left his rickshaw for an enterprising homeless person.
James thought maybe Willie would make a go of the
rickshaw, if he ever came off strike. James didn't
really give a flip about the little bundle of straw.
It was like a Zen joke or something. The little bundle
of straw would find its way into another story as it
had for centuries. Willie would not come off strike.
(Response to "WONDROUS OBJECT" by James Tate in Memoir of The Hawk)
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