GRGR (1): Wayward Thoughts and Forshadowings (pp. 3 - 7)

[Tim Strzechowski]

Much of what this first chapter offers is images and motifs that will gain significance later in the novel.

1.  For those who have read the book before:  notice how the opening two paragraphs relate to the novel's conclusion (e.g., "the fall of the crystal palace," "total blackout," "one glint of light").  Who is "he" and how does this relate to the book's conclusion?

2.  "half-silvered images in a view finder" (p. 3):  relates to the ongoing movie imagery, again with specific reference to the novel's conclusion.

3.  "cast-iron pulleys whose spokes are shaped like Ss" (p. 4):  foreshadows, among other things, "the shape of the tunnels" and "the SS emblem" (p. 300)

4.  "thousands of these hushed rooms" (p. 4):  echoes "mushrooms," which will figure shortly in the narrative

5.  "his skull feels made of metal" (p. 5):  relates to the novel's recurring theme of people becoming mechanized, both literally and figuratively

6.  "fast responses" (p. 5):  i.e., reflexes; Pavlovian conditioning

7.  Notice the various references to cicularity and entwining, all of which are indicative of the narrative style and overall cyclical structure of the novel:

"this is not a disentanglement from, but a progressive _knotting_ into" (p. 3)

"the soil's stringing of rings and chains in nets only God can tell the meshing of" (p. 6)

"climbs a spiril ladder" (p. 6)

"gnarled emissions of steam and smoke" (p. 6)

"Pirate hunches his shoulders, bearing his bananas down the corkscrew ladder" (p. 7)

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