Date: Sat, 05 Oct 2002 15:15:07 -0500
From: James Jordan 
Subject: Re: (urth) PEACE as Faust

Let me see if I've got you right:

At 08:32 AM 10/4/2002, Stone Ox wrote:

>  Shortly after that, an image suddenly hit me that connects Peace
>to Faust.  The image is the one at the end of many versions of Faust, with
>the devil dragging Faust down to hell as Margrete looks down from Heaven 
>(or ascends to Heaven) and prays for him to be saved. The connection, of 
>course, is to the end of the book, where, while Aunt Olivia calls Weer on the
>intercom, Weer makes the fatal error of looking to the enchanted headrest of
>the Chinese philosopher (and thus reliving his afterlife) rather than praying
>to Jesus for salvation.   So we have the identification of Olivia with
>Margrete, and Weer with Faust.  More on this identification later.
>
>Is this really the right interpretation of the ending, leaving the ghost of
>Weer caught eternally in purgatory, while Olivia has ascended to heaven?  It
>seems right to me, but I have only a few pieces of evidence for this:

snip

>Next, at the end of the Chinese philosopher's story, we find the passage:
>"Fool!" the old man exclaimed.  "Do you not recognize me?  I have granted
>your heart's desire, and for it I receive your ingratitude!"
>Is this not also a plausible response to somebody who has turned down the
>offer of eternal life?

         So, tell me: Weer is Faust. He has been granted his heart's desire 
for an eternal life, and he has it. He is doomed to walk through his life 
over and over forever. He's not in purgatory, but hell. Is that it?


Nutria


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