A Soul In Ev'ry Stone

[Paul Mackin]

----------
From: 	Mike Weaver[SMTP:pic at gn.apc.org]

Some silent moments later I'd like to suggest that the comparison (not
dichotomy)  that Roger poses is valid.  Living on Their terms for someone
who understands the death-in-life They offer is possibly so painful as to
make oblivion attractive. That death may result from resistance is a
possibility understood by an awful lot of revolutionaries,  but the quality
of life in resistance is presumably that much greater than that of slavery
as to make the choice (on an individual level) a conscious celebration of
life in the face of death and on a collective level an affirmation of
Paul's own take on the song


>>>I take Mike's meaning and respect it for its unselfishness and altruism. History is full of people who see self-sacrifice for the good cause, even the hopeless cause, as the right and often the only choice. There is no other way.  We do love each other, strange as it seems, and as a result brave people must die. However, existentially speaking, this definitely sucks. The fact that collectively the human race somehow carries on just doesn't quite cut it.  While individual immortality is impossible, even absurd,  we still long for it and for me the knowledge throughout life that it's but an idle dream is the ultimate source of the paranoia felt throughout the book. It's the meaning of our being the poor, passed over, preterite ones. Recognition of this tragedy of life is what according to our author makes writing (literature) serious.  At least this is what I must have been thinking when I fired off my flippant response. So, when Roger contemplates choosing real death (meaning extinction) over a figurative death in life, I'm not sure how much sleep he should lose over the decision. I seem to recall somewhere in the book that the orthodox view is that in the end everybody dies anyway (even Them), and not just figuratively.
 
					P..