GRGR 1:2 Pirate's Mistake

[jbor at bigpond.com]

Pirate's a man of his time and class, which accounts for some of those 
prejudices. Explains them at least, if not excusing him entirely. I 
also think he's shown to be handling his "talent" remarkably well, 
though he's the one filtering the story here I guess. And he does come 
off as somewhat less in control of things later on when we find out 
about his fetish, and his fling with Scorpia Mossmoon. And that's 
probably where "They" will get, or have got, their hooks into him, I'd 
say.

But so far he's doing a pretty good job of looking out for the 
well-being of his mates, both reactively (by cushioning Bloat's 
balcony-dive), and proactively (the Breakfasts). Plus, he's still got 
quite a bit to learn, about "the Firm", and about himself. I think he 
becomes an extremely sympathetic character later on when he's so 
conflicted about "the Counterforce" et al.

You're right about the Foreign Office (F.O.) colluding with S.O.E. on 
the Novi Pazar thing; and so already some of the tentacles of "They" 
are beginning to show.

best

On 13/11/2005 jporter wrote:

> Which is probably a more flattering term than he deserves, but
> we'll  give him the benefit of the doubt. At any rate, it occurs to
> me that Pirate must have welcomed the help of The Firm in
> managing his "condition," just as the Foreign Office (F.O.)
> welcomed The Firm's lending them Pirate, an asset They had
> patiently groomed, and who had become dependent on
> Them for his peace of mind- if not his sanity- thus ennabling the
> F.O. to deal effectively with Novi Pazar- A debt that would surely
> come due at some point in the future.
>
> The Firm replaced "the policeman" for Pirate. He became Theirs.
> And I think it was his racism, or classism, at the very least,
> which added to his fear of the drooling derelict- "the one you
> are afraid of ever meeting." I'm assuming that "you" refers
> to the reader, here, but spoken from the p.o.v.  of Pirate, whose
> consciousness is guiding the tone of the narrative.
>
> What would have happened if Pirate had been able to quell
> his abomination of the derelict and somehow interact long
> enough with him to learn something about himself, and his
> talent, maybe even learn to control it on his own, instead of
> seeking the comforting embrace of Them?
>
> This hairsplitting is interesting because it fleshes out
> Their knack for turning and controlling people, and using
> them for Their own advantage. It demonstrates how They
> prey on people's weakness and fears in order to get what
> They want.
>
> From another angle, it sheds some light on the two halves
> of the opening section. Knowing Pirate's foibles and weaknesses,
> undercuts his strength and control highlighted then. Perhaps
> the garden scene was a little too primeval- it was up on the
> roof, after all, a hothouse- not really natural at all- and
> producing unnatural fruit "often to lengths of a foot and
> a half." The line that follows, spoken by the narrator more
> or less directly to the reader, also has a bit of a phony
> ring to it:  "yes amazing but true."
>
> Strange fruit from a strange garden- not quite enough to
> completely undermine the daylight of the rooftop scene
> w/r/t to the dark opening passage, but the start, perhaps,
> of an answer to what then seemed like a rhetorical
> question:
>
> 	How could there be a winter-even this one-
> 	grey enough to age this iron that can sing
> 	in the wind, or cloud these windows that open
> 	into another season, however falsely preserved?
>
> Preserved by the work of others, some far away, who might
> themselves have ended up as strange fruit in the fields
> and forests controlled by Them.
>
> jody
>
> "A Visitor may lounge in the Evening upon the Platform behind
> the Lines, and, as a Visitor to London might gaze at St. Paul's,
> regard these more sinister forms in the failing North Light,-
> Perhaps being led to meditate upon Punishment, or upon
> Commerce..."
> 	
>