The
way the speaker is able to represent his thought process is truly a beautiful
feat. For this I am simply referring to the writing of the novel, as it is now
know that these thoughts are not really the speakers, they are the result of
the teachings of Phaedrus. Having said this I would like to shift my focus of
this entry primarily to the dimensional aspect that is approach by the speaker in
this reading. This concept is one that the speaker has been leading himself
into for a while now. He is hitting the nail on the head when he describes the
difference between John and himself.
But
this idea brings up some serious issues about society as a whole. The
underlying meaning of this idea is a major conflict that cannot be resolved
between the two feuding parties of those against and for technology. John is
adamant in his ways and whether the speaker recognizes it or not he is in his
way adamant to his open mindedness, not willing to accept the others’ side.
This dimensional dilemma will lead to major tension between the two as the
novel continues. Yet there seems to be a third dimension recognized by the
speaker subconsciously, that is the dimension his son is living in. We learn of
this mental illness that is very vague at this point but it is definitely
affecting everyone around Chris. This idea of dimensionalism intrigues me to
the point that I could not put down the book. While some questions have been
answered more have unfolded. What is wrong with Chris? The speaker’s wife is confirmed
alive? Who is Phaedrus?
I find Zane’s observations on the different dimensions of the novel to be accurate, however I do not believe that the differences are as extreme as Zane implies. John is not completely unwilling to accept the interference of technology, in fact he was going to allow the narrator to fix his handlebars, and even demonstrated an interest on the subject by asking questions until the introduction of a non-professional tool became to much for John to bear. The narrator is also not completely at the extreme of his dimension and does not exhibit open-mindedness in his avoidance of psychiatrists for his son. There are blurred lines in relation to how one defines a character and there is always room for some deviation. As for the third dimension of Chris, I agree with Zane in that Chris is still somewhat of an unknown and we must wait to see the side that Chris represents in the novel. The introduction of Chris’s mental instability could prove to bring about a new side to the main debate on human opinions. Overall each charter does in fact represent a certain dimension however I do believe that the dimensions may begin to blur a bit and the characters will, as they have, act in ways contrary to what would be expected, and as such could interact well together as they so far in the reading.
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