MDMD: The Crime of Anonymity

[Thomas Eckhardt]

There certainly is a, more or less ironic, relationship between the Reverend and
the author of M&D. This is one important aspect of one of the central themes of
this novel, a theme revolving around the question of how to remember the past.

But let us not forget that what we get here first of all is information about
the character Wicks Cherrycoke, who claims that he has been a political activist
in his youth, that he was therefore thrown into prison, called "insane", and in
effect banished from his home country.

As for "insanity". Judy Panetta wrote:

> And on another note...the Revd's knowledge that his name is not his own (his
> name, that is, rather than a body part) drives him to insanity. Insanity
> "cured" by a cruise.

He was "styl'd" insane, is what he says. He thus qualifies his preceding
statement that this was the part of the tale where he became insane. Insanity,
he seems to imply, is a matter of definition, and the defining as always is done
by the authorities. As has been pointed out, Foucault's book about the history
of madness is probably helpful here.

Judy also wrote:

> This passage brought to mind the Soviet asylums, but perhaps that's too much
> of a strech.

I don't think so. To claim that political opponents were insane has often proved
a convenient way to get rid of them, I assume. And this is certainly not only
true for the USSR. Perhaps somebody can provide some enlightenment on this
issue. In any case, the reference seems to point towards a quasi totalitarian
regime.

Thomas