Jaime and Josh,

I hope that we can fold more people into the mix about this topic area--it is so rich! One thing that I love about this text is the depth of the format choices. I just know that the way she weaves things together are purposeful and clever.

For example, the DNA metaphor is woven into the discussion of Himmler as a child. It seems clear to me that she is saying Himmler's personality (and the damage of the outside influences--the disciplinarian, unemotional, culture of child rearing, his well-meaning but abusive father, his doting but weak mother) was shaped in the same way that cells are shaped/impacted by the environment they in which they reside.

I also was surprised (delighted really) when that DNA developed into the baby, curled up in sleep and sucking its thumb) at the end of the essay. I knew she was heading somewhere, but I didn't see it coming. Makes one think of Himmler as an innocent child, at least at some point...fascinating how Griffin can make me see something so new and surprising just by the way she arranges material on the page.