Chapter 45: The Duck and Slothrop

[David Morris]

>From: Dave Monroe <davidmmonroe at yahoo.com>
>
>"... now the Duck is a Fugitive, flying where it wishes,-- often indeed 
>visiting the Academy of Sciences, where they have learn'd that the greater 
>its speed, the less visible it grows, until at around a Thousand Toises per 
>Minute, it vanishes entirely,-- but one of many newly-acquir'd Powers, 
>bringing added Urgency to finding it as quickly as possible, before this 
>'Morphosis carries it beyond our Control.'" (M&D, Ch. 37, 373-4)
>
>"...beneath it her Iron Confidence in the power conferr'd by her 
>Inedibility...being artificial and deathless, as I was meat, and of the 
>Earth...my only hope was that her 'Morphosis would somehow carry her quite 
>beyond me, and soon." (M&D, Ch. 37, p. 380)
>
>    "As to the Duck's actual Presence, Opinions among the Pary continue to 
>vary.[...] those more succeptible to the shifts of Breeze between the 
>Worlds, notably at Twilight, claim to've seen the actual Duck, shimmering 
>into Visibility, for a few moments, then out again." (M&D, Ch. 45, p. 448)

These quotes (good choices, Dave) make me think of Slothrop.  Constructed by 
Them, he transforms into a force beyond Their control, becoming a fugitive 
who MUST be caught, brought back under control.  Like the duck's 'morphosis, 
Slothrop also becomes more and more invisible until finally opinions vary as 
to whether he ever actually existed.  I don't think these parallels are 
accidental.


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