I'm often accused of confusing aesthetics with ethics. Luckily I have no more power to enforce my opinions now than when I was a child. And luckily I have much less desire to defend them. We learn to smile at what cannot, for all our delicacy, be put into so many words. It also makes a lovely pivot in a narrative structure.
Most authors then hasten to wrap the characters' new interpretation around a reassuring conclusion.
Such realizations call all storytelling into question. They prove that story is not essence, that story is a covering-up of essence, or, at best, a fashionable accentuation of some flattering aspect of essence. Of course, green velveteen and black satin aren't the only materials available to our brave little tailors. Andersen, for example, can't resist donning that armor, despite his constant complaints of chafing. Cavalier Riding, on the other hand, admits to no other skin.