#ClassicLSFBK @Ruthiella @RamsFan1963 @The_Book_Ninja
A comment I made on one of Ruth's earlier posts had me pausing to reflect more deeply on what I'm reading. I'm up to Part 2, Chapter 8, which is page 118 in my edition, so I'll hide my thoughts in a comment behind a spoiler.
Bookwomble I'd not much liked Gully up to now. His desire for revenge has him casually not give a damn how many people he might kill in his first escape from the Sargasso Asteroid (great name, though!), & he rapes Robin Wednesbury, so I was feeling very much that I didn't care for him as MC. Then I clicked that Bester has called him a typical Common Man, & the story so far makes sense as an allegory, with Gully representing the unindividuated mass of ... 12mo
Bookwomble ... oppressed people, striking out blindly at the apparent cause of oppression (the Vorga) rather than the actual oppressor (Presteign), & trampling anything in his path. As a metaphor for class struggle, I feel better about the possible narrative arc as, awful as Gully's actions are, I'm not required to empathize with him, I can deplore them as examples of the flow of historical events, and hope that Bester is leading towards some ethical point. 12mo
Bookwomble Apologies if that's TLDNR, or over thought 🙃 12mo
Ruthiella Hmmm, very interesting. Is he showing what any “common man” might be capable of, given the right motivation and opportunity? I am also curious to see where the story goes. 12mo
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