Re: Heroine death at end of TNW

[bloch%mandrill@ucsd.edu (Steve Bloch)]

Well, everyone's favorite subject again rears its ugly head.  And this
time I'll bite.  While rather offended by IED's choice of words
("there are no two ways about it", "this is not a subject for debate",
"this is an ignorant reaction", "did _no-one_ learn anything..."), I'm
inclined to agree with his substantive view.  To which end I hereby
post some substantive replies to Kevin Gurney, who writes:

>1. Is she physically "falling like a stone"?  Couldn't have been a very 
>successful rescue if she is. How about emotionally "falling like a stone"? 
>Doesn't really fit with the rest of the song, does it?  What if she's
>"falling" through this world into another?  That makes sense to me.

What if she's in a nearly zero-g, or "free-fall", environment, such as
(for example) floating in water, especially salt water?  And a whole
night in the water, if one didn't freeze to death, would leave one's
sensory nerves about as responsive as a stone.


>2. Why does she sing "I'd (I _would_) love to hold you now."?  Why not simply 
>"I'll hold you now."? Unless she can't BECAUSE SHE'S DEAD!
Someone else handled this one pretty well.


>3. The couplet "Being born again/Into the sweet morning fog" just sounds
>too much like she's passed on to the next world. I can't think of any other
>_plausible_ interpretation.

The ocean has been used as a metaphor for rebirth _within_this_life_
for thousands of years.  Nearly every ancient culture that dealt with
the sea had a "Jonah" story, as Joseph Campbell points out, emphasizing
that these legends indicate someone going through a traumatic
experience and coming out as a different person, with a feeling of
newness that could well be interpreted as "being born again",
especially if one's sensory inputs were screwed up.  I've experienced
something less intense, but similar, working all-nighters in the
terminal room and emerging from that dark hole into the 6AM light and
fog, which tends to make everything look new and half-formed.

"Once again your words have pulled the universe out of place/
To exist it need not have a human face." -- Jane Siberry

bloch%cs@ucsd.edu