(urth) Short Story 71: Silhouette

[Marc Aramini]

The rather hallucinatory scene where Erik believes he has come to the
middle of the Ocean standing on a pier seems to me one of the most
important thematic repetitions in the story, for the referenced works
involve memorable drowning and storms: A Psychological Shipwreck, The
Eighth Day, and Seven Gothic Tales all have very prominent flooding storm
scenes, and at the conclusion Johann's belief that land is the enemy
during  a storm gives us some metaphor for this ... however, when he sits
with the Captain, he remembers several things: writing Marcella as he
passes Neptune, then an actual representation of the sea god, and then a
strange italicized stormy moment involving a jetty that has very little
context.

Are we to believe that the microorganisms rife in the watery crevasses are
a part of this storm, or, because he thinks of last writing Marcella near
Neptune, should we consider this somehow indicative of the fate of earth,
which somehow manifests itself around Erik as well (experiencing the
psychological shipwreck/drowning of his friends long gone on earth)?  Given
the apportation that has begun, I don't see why Erik couldn't be standing
in the ocean on Neuerddraht - thought the talk of time and hyper-time
quanta by the overmonitor is confusing.
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