The Prisoner #008: Who is really interested in No.6's resignation?
Date: Friday, 3 January 1986 07:48 mst
From: packard!psuvax1!burdvax!sjuvax!iannucci at SEISMO.CSS.GOV (Dave Iannucci @ St. Joseph's University)
Subject: Return of the Prisoner
Reply-To: sjuvax!iannucci at SEISMO.CSS.GOV
To: sjuvax!prisoner at SEISMO.CSS.GOV
The Prisoner #008 01/02/86 Moderator: Dave Iannucci (iannucci@sjuvax.UUCP)
Topics
- Who is really interested in No.6's resignation?
- Allegories: Computers, TV
- Thoughts of a non-computerite
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From: allegra!pyrnj!pluto!warren (Warren Burstein)
The reason whoever runs the Village wants to know why #6 resigned is so they can recruit him. Just how this will do it, I don't understand, but it seems clear to me from things said by various #2's. So we can't prove anything about "which side they are on" from this. I sort of think it's neither. The congress of sorts in "Fall Out" suggests something worldwide, like what people accuse the Trilateral Committee of being.
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From: allegra!ihnp4!hpfcla!hpspkla!hedge
A few quick responses to Prisoner #007 (great number!)
John Giorgi writes about allegory for different facets of society in The Prisoner. He states that "The General" could be a statement against computers. I think this could possibly be a statement against television as well. Remember the "classes" taught by the General over TV? Might the possible message be TV=brainwash? Maybe a little too ironic for a television series to state within itself.
Re: Matt Bishop's remarks: I totally agree with the significance he attributes to the appearance of Cobb in the first episode. It's a definite foreshadowing of the real goal of the Village. I don't think it conclusively proves who's running the Village though. I'm still tempted, however, to believe that only "our side" would be interested in the central question of resignation. This is really just for the sake of argument though because I believe that the Village is an allegory for society where conformity rules, and "sides" are just another illusion created to foster obedience (remember the interminable war in 1984?) The foregoing resembles John Muth's comments on this issue. I agree with his analysis of the end of "Fall Out". The effect of the thunder as #2 walks into the official looking building seems to indicate he also will resign. Again, interpreting this as "our side" running the Village would just be for the sake of argument.
Alan Hedge
Hewlett Packard
Spokane, Washington
ihnp4!hpfcla!hpspkla!hedge
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From: Matt Bishop <burdvax!psuvax1!ihnp4!riacs!mab>
This seems quite appropriate, as I think the final sequence is the same as the one in the opening credits -- he's breaking with his society by resigning. (Implicit in this is that the entire story took place only in his mind, I suppose.) [Bishop]I don't quite know what you mean by this, Matt. The only scene I know of that repeats is the one of the Prisoner racing down a deserted road in his little KAR 120C. In `Fall Out', he doesn't seem to do anything that would suggest resignation.
*sigh* See what happens when you write something like this at 10pm on a Friday evening?
What I mean is this. The final scene, as Dave points out, is the Prisoner racing down a deserted road in his car. This is the same as the opening scene. One inference you can draw is that the entire thing took place only in the Prisoner's mind; the kidnapping, imprisonment in the Village, and escape/leaving/... (words fail me here) were a daydream, as he considers the things that could happen. Even the most strong and brave of us can have such tremors when we are about to do something as momentous (to us) as resigning from, not just a job, but an entire way of life and a society. This is what I mean by the Prisoner casting out his conformity -- he's casting it out by resigning, just as he cast out that part of him which forced him to conform (symbolized by #1) when he launched the rocket.
Hope this is clearer. If not, well, I'll try again!
Be Seeing You,
Matt
PS: Keep up the good work, Dave!
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From: Joel B Levin <burdvax!psuvax1!ihnp4!levin@bbncc2.ARPA>
About 10 minutes before its start, I saw a reference to _The_Prisoner_ in TV Guide ... for all you folks who get Boston TV, Channel 7 ran _Arrival_ Saturday night at midnight. (Now you get to see where the commercials went!)
/JBL
[ed. note: Apologies are due those who live near Boston and who may have missed a great deal of the series because of the delay of this message!]
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From: giorgi (John Giorgi)
The following ideas belong to a friend of mine who attends the University of Delaware.His name is Dave Harkins and since he hates computers, I shall relay all of his messages.
- About the significance of the bicycle.
- a) As has been mentioned, the bicycle shows a large wheel pulling the small. Signifying, exactly that, the large pulling the small.
- b) The bicycle is called 'the ordinary' (this is another name for this type bicycle ). The bicycle represents the Village. So we must fear the ordinary as we fear the Village. Ordinary things are what we must watch out for. Question: Does anyone know why the bicycle is called the ordinary?
- About the rocket in the final episode. The rocket is technology. This is what the people of the Village are prisoners of. When he deliberately fires the rocket he is getting rid of their technology and the Village then begins to fall apart. This allows him to escape easily.
- About the books.
- a) The Prisoner
- This book is a retelling of the series although many things have been changed.
- b) The Prisoner: Who is Number 2?
- The Prisoner: A Day in the Life.
- Both of these books represent an original individual episode that can be inserted anywhere into the series.
From Dave Harkins (Art major) by way of....
John A. Giorgi / Saint Joseph's University
{allegra | astrovax | bpa | burdvax}!sjuvax!giorgi
The sands of time were eroded by the river of constant change.
Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/Rutherford
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For those of you who may not have received my letter of a few days ago, I apologize for having let mail.prisoner fall by the wayside. It initially did so because I could find no way of distributing the list which was not a burden to sjuvax and its neighbors. Now everything seems to be ok. I'll let you know if trouble crops up again. For those who have sent submissions that don't appear here - don't worry, they'll come next issue, in a week or so.
Take a look back at your Prisoner issues from October and keep the submissions coming! BCing U.
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Dave Iannucci @ St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia [40 00' N 75 15' W]
{{ihnp4 | ucbvax}!allegra | {psuvax1}!burdvax | astrovax}!sjuvax!iannucci
END OF Prisoner #008
