Re: Does she die?

[Doug Alan <nessus@athena.mit.edu>]

> From: rhend@caen.engin.umich.edu (Robert Henderson)

> Well, it seems that |>oug is questioning whether or not the main
> character (note the word character here, folks) dies at the end of
> _The_Ninth_Wave_.  |>oug, I ususally agree with your
> interpretations, but she's dead dead dead dead dead dead dead,
> there's no doubt about it.  _The_Morning_Fog_ shows her dying and
> going to Heaven/similar afterlife.  (See, there's a happy ending
> after all!)

Actually, I'm not really she's certain she's alive -- she could be
dead.  But she could also be alive.  The issue really isn't all that
clear.  It had never occurred to me that the character might be dead
until someone else told me that he thought she dies at the end.  After
thinking about this idea for a little while, I decided that indeed,
maybe she does die.  But I still believe she's alive.  Some of my
opinion comes from an interview with Kate where she said that "The
Ninth Wave" is the story of a woman who goes through a terrible ordeal
and in the end she ends up all the better for the experience.  I don't
tend to think that being dead is better, but perhaps Kate does....

> I also wonder where you get the idea of a submarine being anywhere
> in the song.  If you're referring to the radio traffic at the end
> of _Jig_of_Life_, listen a little more carefully.

No, I'm, refering to the end of "Hello Earth".  We hear the german
voice say "Deeper, deeper.  Somewhere in the darkness there is a
light."  We also hear sonar sounds.  So, this leaves us with an
unanswered question -- what is it that is lurking hidden in the
depths?  Both sonar and German, especially in combination, conjure up
the image of U-boats.  Well, what is this U-boat doing there?  And why
is it the "light"?  It's there to rescue Kate, of course!

|>oug

"silence

is
a
looking

bird:"