“A draught blows the ballerina into the fire with him, and she is consumed at once; only her spangle remains. The maid later discovers the tin soldier has melted into the shape of a heart.”

Wendy, who is represented by the balerina, dies (is completely incinerated), and nothing remains but Jennifer’s memory (spangle). Also, more obvious than the last, Jennifer still lives, and keeps the memory in her heart (like the tin one).

I don’t remember the scene exactly,but if you examine the airship on the ground in that room,there is a bit of writing about it,and you watch it scoot along the floor and crash into a bus. The comment ended with something about Jennifer’s feelings.

I was thinking along the lines of Gregory being the Tin Soldier.

http://hca.gilead.org.il/tin_sold.html

That is Hans Christian Anderson’s Tin Soldier story. I think it kind of points to Gregory as the tin soldier.

To quote what I said in July:

If you read the story, the little tin soldier is missing his leg. I thought this might be like Gregory missing Joshua, as he was almost more attached to him than one of his limbs. Also, the tin soldier becomes infatuated with a young girl who also seems to be missing her leg. although he is mistaken about it, he loves her anyway. (the Ballerina doll) Which I thought might be similar to Jennifer’s lack of parents when she meets Gregory. Gregory says to himself, “Joshua… you’ve returned to me…” and loves Jennifer as Joshua, who in return learns to love him.

In this story, however, there is also a morale that reminds me not only of Gregory but of Wendy as well.

“Tin soldier,” said the goblin, “don’t wish for what does not belong to you.”

But the tin soldier pretended not to hear.

“Very well; wait till to-morrow, then,” said the goblin.

I sort of “translated” what the goblin said; “…what does not belong to you…” as the children Gregory was stealing.

They placed him on the table, and—how many curious things do happen in the world!—there he was in the very same room from the window of which he had fallen, there were the same children, the same playthings, standing on the table, and the pretty castle with the elegant little dancer at the door; she still balanced herself on one leg, and held up the other, so she was as firm as himself. It touched the tin soldier so much to see her that he almost wept tin tears, but he kept them back. He only looked at her and they both remained silent. Presently one of the little boys took up the tin soldier, and threw him into the stove. He had no reason for doing so, therefore it must have been the fault of the black goblin who lived in the snuff-box. The flames lighted up the tin soldier, as he stood, the heat was very terrible, but whether it proceeded from the real fire or from the fire of love he could not tell. Then he could see that the bright colors were faded from his uniform, but whether they had been washed off during his journey or from the effects of his sorrow, no one could say. He looked at the little lady, and she looked at him. He felt himself melting away, but he still remained firm with his gun on his shoulder. Suddenly the door of the room flew open and the draught of air caught up the little dancer, she fluttered like a sylph right into the stove by the side of the tin soldier, and was instantly in flames and was gone. The tin soldier melted down into a lump, and the next morning, when the maid servant took the ashes out of the stove, she found him in the shape of a little tin heart. But of the little dancer nothing remained but the tinsel rose, which was burnt black as a cinder.

Here I have important peices of this bolded, if you’re interested.

http://ruleofrosemysteries.com/2008/07/16/mysteries/did-anyone-know-before-the-orphanage-massacre-to-connect-jennifer-to-the-airship-crash/

From wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Steadfast_Tin_Soldier
On his birthday, a boy receives a set of tin soldiers and arrays them on a table top. One soldier stands on a single leg as there wasn’t enough metal that was used to cast the set of soldiers to fully form him. Nearby, he spies a lovely paper ballerina with a spangle on her sash. She too is standing on one leg and the soldier falls in love. That night, a troll, a “black bogey” in the form of a Jack-in-the-box among the toys angrily warns the soldier to avert his ardent gaze from the ballerina, but the soldier ignores him. The next day, the soldier falls from a windowsill (presumably the work of the troll) and lands in the street. Two boys find the soldier, place him in a paper boat, and set him sailing in the gutter. The boat and its passenger wash into a sewer, where a rat demands the soldier pay a toll. Sailing on, the boat is washed into a canal, where the tin solder is swallowed by a fish. When the fish is caught and cut open, the tin solder finds himself once again on the table top before the ballerina. Inexplicably, a boy suddenly throws the tin soldier into the fire in the stove. A draught blows the ballerina into the fire with him, and she is consumed at once; only her spangle remains. The maid later discovers the tin soldier has melted into the shape of a heart.

For some reason, I can picture the “boy receiving the tin soldiers” as Gregory, the lone toy soldier as Jennifer, and the ballerina as Wendy [which compliments their Prince/Princess gender roles in the game].
The soldier (Jennifer) and the ballerina (Wendy) “fall in love”.
The soldier ends up leaving via falling through the window.
Later, the “rat demands the soldier pay a toll” reminds me of the monthly offerings demanded by the Aristocrats (not to mention Diana having “rat” associations, as well as that drawn on the bag she was wearing in “The Little Princess” chapter.
The fish being gutted reminds me of Clara in the boss-fight (as well as Diana and her fish associations).
The ballerina (Wendy) and the tin soldier (Jennifer) are later reunited (Jennifer leaves Gregory [where she first meets Wendy], and is “reunited” with Wendy at the orphanage.)

As I said. It seems a hard way to forgive someone.

But, despite all you’ve said, much of it I have thought of before, it doesn’t really give me answers.

I still find it wonderous that in two simple lines we are both resolved and yet completely disillusioned…

After all… what is “real Joshua” to Gregory? Where does real end and fantasy begin for him? They say reality is all in your own perception of events… I wonder what exactly Gregory was thinking when he said his climactic few sylables.

Oh, and Masq, a lot of people believe that by giving the gun to Gregory, Jennifer accepts her memories for what they are instead of just shooting him. Although I believe this is not true. I think Jennifer actually does forgive him. Instead of trying to kill Gregory out of fear, she forgives him by letting him do what he was set out to do in the first place; kill himself.

In the Final Battle with Stray Dog, where Gregory is starting to act like Gregory again, he says something that seemed rather cliche and I over looked it but thinking on it, I have a few questions and would like some opinions.

“I’m sorry, Joshua.” “Yes.”

He says these things to himself. The last one seems to be a reassurance of his suicide.

The “I’m sorry, Joshua,” has me puzzled. To whom is he referring?

Jennifer as Joshua?

Wendy as Joshua?

or the Real Joshua?

Did Gregory do something bad that caused Joshua’s death? Is this just his way of apologizing to Jennifer for all he’s done and all the trouble he’s caused? Is he saying he’s sorry for killing Wendy and disobeying her? Is it a combination of the above?

Then the way he says, “Yes…” with a kind of smile on his face… Did Joshua forgive him and that caused that smile? Or does he believe this will make things better? (a life for a life?) When he holds out his hands and Jennifer hands him the gun, we can assume that her handing him the gun COULD be taken as a, “You’re forgiven,” But that seems an awefully hard forgiveness… and he seems to look at/mess with the gun for a moment before accepting his fate at his own hands.

Well… sorry for the rant… just figured this may tie in with the, “Something bad happened in that room,” senario.