(urth) short story digression: Novel 1: Operation ARES

[Nick Lee]

John wrote:

> It seems to me that Wolfe is inviting us to view the novel in terms of
> chess.  Castle is, I suppose, a rook. The Captain would be a knight.  That
> much I get, but how it relates to the rest of the book I don't know.  And I
> don't know either what the reference to the bishop might be.  The bishop
> is, as you say, the clergy.  I take Castle to be saying that the clergy is
> ultimately going to be on the side of freedom and the Captain will fail
> because he doesn't pay attention to the church.  What does the church
> matter to the Captain?  They don't have obvious power.  But then ...
> there's nothing more about the clergy anywhere else in the book.  Nor can I
> trace the chess stuff any further.


Given that we don't know the extent of the supposedly overzealous editing
on the book, it's hard to say what the full chess implications are. I find
the book more interesting for its antecedents of Wolfe's later more
developed themes. Still, I think the case can be made that chess is an
extended metaphor in the book.

The bishop and clergy pertain to either (or both) of meanings:

1) The clergy represent the spiritual (and mental?) nurturing of the
people. The Captain does not understand the needs of the soul and mind.

2) The clergy represents the learned people, the scientists and engineers
that are demonized in the culture. They are actually necessary for mankind
to survive.

There may also be some connection to those pieces' capabilities and the
characters or concepts of the novel.

As for other references to the game, I have another thought. My chess
knowledge is rather meager, actually, but I always was intrigued by the
protagonist's name (Castle), specifically how it reminds me not just of the
chess piece but of the maneuver of "castling." Possibly the movement of the
president is itself a reference to this. The way the action revolves around
his capture is also reminiscent of the object of chess. A more experience
player could probably find more clues. The main characters themselves
likely all correspond to a piece in some way. Of course, Wolfe's writing is
like a game of chess in a way. He misdirects the reader, etc.
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