(urth) short story 11: trip, trap

[Marc Aramini]

--- On Wed, 4/4/12, Darth Ed <darthed77 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I'm not sure we can trust the text so closely. I agree with
> your analysis that the story is very much about ego and that
> Finch and Garth have to put aside their egos and work
> together in order to defeat the traki. Everything you wrote
> makes perfect sense. It's just this "spirit world" business
> that doesn't make any sense. That and the statement that
> there's blood on Finch and Finch's sword but no visible
> wound on the traki. I suspect the "spirit world" stuff is a
> lie concocted by Garth and Finch probably together, possibly
> inspired by some kind of head injury to Garth or exposure to
> a psychopharmacological substance. If there's blood on the
> sword and on Finch, then the most likely scenario is that
> Finch killed the traki with the sword and the "spirit world"
> story is a way to cover up that fact. The lie, if it is a
> lie, is win-win for Garth and Finch. Garth impresses his
> Protector for defeating the traki, and Finch doesn't get a
> bad reputation in the academic community.
> 
> 

The troll is wounded, it just wasn't pierced with the tip of a sword.

I think to ignore that these guys have to band together to beat him and defeat the "I" ego theme would be violated a bit by having Finch and Garth both lie, especially when we know Finch is a smart physically ineffectual twit - that's his character.  

Only with the best of both their traits, Finch to rationalize behind illusion and Garth to act, can they beat the troll, and this is symbolically written in the text as the "bridge" - something that connects to disparate shores.  What can keep people from crossing that bridge?  The ultimate troll - "I".  So claiming that they don't come together is a violation of the theme, in my opinion.

When the text and theme jive so well I see no reason to overthrow any of the aliens statements.  When I get back from work I will look at the description of the body, but I do not think it was completely unwounded, just not pierced.