V2nd, C3

[kelber at mindspring.com]

The eighth section is different from the others, in that there's no proxy-character for Stencil.  Stencil's finally attained something (wisdom?  the object of his knightly quest?). The narratorial voice in this section is dispassionate; it summarizes without expressing any opinions, emotions or flights of fancy - until the closing sentences of the section and chapter:  Vision must be the last to go, etc.  It's the voice of someone describing exactly what he sees.  Stencil himself is THERE.

Stencil jumps into this series of projections with a question on his mind.  He's lying on Bongo-Shaftsbury the Younger's couch, musing about a time in the past when his host's father murdered a man named Porpentine.  What (we can guess he's wondering) might this have to do with V.?  Does he have his answer at the end? 

"There must also be a nearly imperceptible line between an eye that reflects and an eye that receives."  Stencil's finally crossed that line.  He doesn't need a proxy protagonist any more, he sees exactly what he needs to.  That we don't necessarily get it doesn't matter.  What is it he "gets?"  That Victoria was a normal girl who got mixed up romantically with Goodfellow the spy.  Now that Goodfellow's partner is dead and he's, perhaps, on the run, is this the moment when she turns to Bongo-Shaftsbury (spy and partial cyborg) for comfort, sealing her fate?  Something along those lines.

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: David Payne <dpayne1912 at hotmail.com>

>
>
>Ian noted Stencil's 8 skins & the 8 points of the Malta cross. 
> 
>Each point on the cross corresponds to one of "the eight obligations or aspirations of the knights, namely 'to live in truth, have faith, repent one’s sins, give proof of humility, love justice, be merciful, be sincere and whole­hearted, and to endure persecution'".
> 
>Does this compare Stencil's quest with knightly quests? The 2 knightly quests that first pop to my mind are the quest for the holy grail and Quixote's quest for love.
> 
>If we push the idea perhaps further than we should: Does each of Stencil's 8 projections embody (or correspond with) 1 of the 8 knightly obligations/aspirations?
> 
>In section 4 (the train scene), for example, does Waldetar (Stencil's 4th projection) achieve or aspire to "give proof of humility"? Perhaps Waldetar/Stencil does this in philosophizing that "soul cannot commend no-soul" and in thinking that souls are "at the mercy of the earth and the seas" and that souls "need a God to keep them from harm"? (Which, by the way, is part of why it is so creepy when the "human" turns out to be an electric doll....)
> 
>Another idea that is easy to push farther than it should probably be pushed: A chessboard is 8x8...
> 
>On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:45:25 -0700, Ian (igrlivingston at gmail.com) wrote:
>> The Maltese cross has more relevance to this chapter than is apparent.
>> Here is a bit of explanation:
>>
>> http://www.guidetomalta.net/malta-history/maltese-cross/
>>
>> Note especially paragraph three and the discussion of the eight points
>> of the cross, keeping in mind Stencil's eight skins in this chapter.
>> Also, Malta, as Michael notes, is in the center of the Mediterranean.
>> That alone made it strategically desirable to the lords of
>> intercontinental warfare in times past. 		 	   		  
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