e gives him and doesn't complain or try to change it. He goes with the flow, never struggling. His life in the work force started when his highschool accidentally sent him a form for the "Floral Arts Degree" instead of the requested "Furnace Repair Course" application. Instead of sending it back, Larry merely sent in the application and took the Floral Arts course leading him to twelve years of work in floral design at the neighbourhood Flowercity. Larry's first marriage to Dorrie occurred in much the same manner. He had dated her for the average length of time and the normal thing to do was to get married. It wasn't out of any particular love or desire. Similarly, in setting up "A/Mazing Space, Inc" Larry's later in life strictly personal interest maze building company "he caught, entirely by accident, one of the generational updrafts: the realization that there is a time at the end of this long, mean, skeptical century for leisure..."(Shields 145) turning his eccentric business into a booming success. As the pendulum swings, Larry swings with it, always back towards the center of normalcy, not pushing back or resisting in the least. Larry's life never get's too bad nor excessively good, it merely stays on the same plane.
             Rennie Wilford, the main character of Bodily Harm, on the other hand follows a totally different path through life. Rennie's background is very similar to that of Larry. She was born in Griswold, Ontario, again being a very typical Canadian town. Although Griswold is much smaller than Winnipeg(Larry's hometown), Winnipeg shares many "small-town" aspect with Griswold making both Rennie and Larry's childhood habitats very similar. Bodily Harm catches up with Rennie's life as a young woman. The action during the novel itself only takes place during about a one-month time frame of Rennie's life, how...