(urth) 5HC

[Marc Aramini]

Marsch had already been to St Anne and been replaced when he met Number
Five.  They look at each other and instantly recognize a few things -
Marsch sees Number Five is a clone and Number Five sees that Marsch is not
a human with his green eyes, calling him an abo (or at least half
abo). There isn't time between Marsch mentions in "The Fifth Head of
Cerberus" for him to have gone to St. Anne in between - the Marsch who
shows up is the one who has lived through the events in "VRT".

(The killed stag's eyes on VRT are also affected by something happening in
them which doubles the pupil, which seems to be undergoing meiosis or
mitosis (I favor meiosis, of course), and the great pits Eye and Other Eye
in A Story at first led me to think there was some kind of eye infection
going on, but that didn't hold up - but it does show that the eyes on St.
Anne can be affected by something. As I said, much as the Shadow Children
create an empathetic identity based on who is around them, the cat had
created a Victor empathy which was passed on to Marsch)

Regardless of the above parenthesis, Marsch had been replaced by something
by the time Number Five met him, and I thought it was funny how easily they
recognized the identity of the other, resonating with the theme of Trip,
Trap - objective reality sometimes isn't that hard to spot by someone with
no subjective bias. I no longer feel that way about Fifth Head, though.


On Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 6:27 AM, Gerry Quinn <gerry at bindweed.com> wrote:

>
> On 25/08/2014 13:30, Lee wrote:
>
>> Gerry Quinn: my interpretation, which comes from the timeline clearly
>>> given during Marsch's interrogation.
>>>
>> Since I consider Number Five to be a much more reliable narrator than
>> VRT, I tend to base my understanding of what happens more on the first
>> section of the novel than the final section. But I will check out VRT's
>> timeline for signs I am mistaken about Marsch's arrival.
>>
>
> There's no contradiction between the two.  The first section indicates
> that the best part of a year passed between Marsch's first visit and the
> murder of No. 5's father.  In the third section it is indicated that Marsch
> has been on Sainte Croix for over a year.
>
>
>  Text that is plainly written by the boy (we arre practically told so in
>>> so many words when Wolfe tells us of the officer looking at the text,
>>> comparing it with Victor's school composition book, and nodding), who
>>> had a clear reason to write it.
>>>
>> Your interpretation of the "nodding" is just that- your interpretation.
>> Marsch himself ostensibly explains the change in his handwriting as being
>> due to a cat bite. He explicitly explains that the handwriting change
>> lasts long after the bite has healed, and appears to be permanent.
>>
>>  He does not explain how his writing became similar to that of the boy
> who supposedly died.
>
> Nor does the above explain 'Marsch's' ruminations in his cell about his
> abo mother, and the hard time he had learning to write as a schoolboy.
>
>
>  Where does one draw the line on what is plausible? My point is and has
>> always
>> been that the placement of that line is arbitrary and individualized. Each
>> person draws that line where it feels most comfortable to them.
>>
>
> I would propose the following criterion: a plausible theory is one in
> which no character - at least if they are sane enough to function to some
> degree in human society - is delusional regarding concrete matters.
>
> Characters are permitted to speak figuratively, to dream, and to lie with
> reason; and text relating to such sources need not and should not be
> interpreted as embodying literal truths about events and characters in the
> story.
>
>
>  - Gerry Quinn
>
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