Golbats for Equality<\/a>\u00a0spun up a quote from Nidoqueen into this image:<\/p>\n In the musical, Jaime doesn\u2019t know how to coexist with Cathy\u2019s misery and exhaustion. \u00a0He\u00a0does\u00a0<\/em>try to help, in good faith,<\/a>\u00a0but I think Ellery is right that Jaime needs to feel like his help is\u00a0working<\/em>, immediately, in order to be confident in himself and in Cathy. \u00a0When he was writing his \u201cShmuel\u201d parable, and imagining how it would go, he imagined himself in the role of the magic clock \u2014 he would tell Cathy that she gets to be happy, and, after a little initial reluctance, she\u2019d become so.<\/p>\n After reading Ellery\u2019s comments, Jamie reminds me a little of the husband in\u00a0Next to Normal<\/em>. \u00a0In that show, the character\u2019s partner is facing a much more debilitating problem (bipolar disorder), but her partner is similarly stymied by his inability to\u00a0help<\/em>. \u00a0I like \u201cI\u2019ve Been\u201d<\/a> enormously, in which he is exhausted but still committed, but the closest parallel to Jamie\u2019s strained helpfulness is probably \u201cIt\u2019s Gonna Be Good\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/84\/2015\/02\/depression.jpg\")
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