RIP: KYLE MILLER

BUGS BUNNY & BAR HOPPING

METAMORPHOSIS

There appears to be a general consensus that Nicholas's lack of a transformation is one of the great disappointments of The Magus. However, as Zach points out in his blog it is possible that Allison plays a much larger role within the plot than is apparent at the first reading. This notion has compelled me to explore the theme of transformation within this novel.

Dr. Sexson said in lecture yesterday that one of the ways you can tell that someone is suffering from a mental condition is their denial of said condition. This description is very befitting for Mr. Nicholas Urfe. If one were to subscribe to this notion, than the end of the novel perfectly illustrates Nicholas's lack of a transformation. In the final scene he still cannot understand what his faults are, and attempts to place the blame for them on the puppeteers of the god game as well as Allison.

I recently read a passage from the Bible that prompted me to think back to an earlier point in the novel:

"These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb".  Revelation 7.14

This verse from the book of Revelation reminded me of the trial scene. The thirteenth figure to appear at the table was dressed in a "long white smock". After the removal of their costumes, all of the "doctors" present at the judgement table are dressed professionally, and it would appear that they have been through the transformation of Bourani themselves, and come out of it as part of a different segment, the elect. They are no longer bounded to the limitations of their ignorance, but have achieved a higher sense of consciousness through their own tribulations. Unfortunately, as Megan noted in her blog the reader never gets solid evidence for any transformation in Nicholas.

While she did not go through the same ordeal as Nicholas, it would appear that Allison has made the biggest transformation of any character in the novel. Prior to Nicholas's departure, she was limited by her need for a relationship, a factor that stunted her mental and emotional growth. After his return, Allison is presented as an individual who no longer needs their relationship to survive.

This theory may be wild unfounded speculation, but it is the result of exploration that is made possioble by the open ending of this novel.

DIVING INTO THE DEPTHS...

of the Magus.

"a grim realization of new depths of treachery"

I have read few books that have confounded my sense of reality as much as this novel. At several points during my reading, I thought that I had finally grasped the underlying message behind the text. Time and time again however, this grasp on the plot's events was shattered and I was forced to re-evaluate the situation. Upon completion of The Magus, I was so overwhelmed by the story that I decided it would take some time to arrive at any sort of conclusion about its veiled implications.

It is the kind of literature that captivates your imagination, and does not release you until you are done reading. The plot is like a never-ending spider web, except that some of the strands are false, and if you walk upon them they will break. Like Mr. Urfe, I sometimes felt that Lilly could finally be trusted, yet time and time again her testimonies were proven false.

I found "Julie"'s unveiling to be the most simultaneously provoking and engaging passage of the novel. At that point I finally felt as though had an idea of the direction of the plot's ending, but her abrupt departure from the bedroom quickly ended that assumption. This is one of the few events in the novel that made me feel true sympathy for Nicholas. He had totally given his trust and love to Julie, only to be brutally brought back into the reality of deception.

"My eyes began to fill with tears of frustrated rage and humiliation. I realized at last what Julie's final look at me had been like. It was that of a surgeon who has just performed a difficult operation successfully; peeling off the rubber gloves, surveying the suture. Trial, flames... they were all mad, they must be, and she the most vicious, shameless, degenerate...."

It is with this passage that Fowles completely captivated my attention and evoked sympathy for Nicholas. It is hard to imagine trusting someone so completely, only to have it stripped away in a matter of moments. Once I gave it some thought however, I began to see through the primary occurrences of the scene and understand some of the motives behind the experiment. In a way, it appears as though this passage could be viewed as an ironic commentary on the way Nicholas treated Alison. He fell in love with Julie, became obsessed with her, was finally united with her, only to have it all taken away. Perhaps  Conchis used this as a way to show Nicholas the gravity of his selfishness and the way he has hurt his past lovers.

Hopefully tomorrow's discussion will be apocalyptic and shed some light on the ending of this complex novel.