Do I finally understand who Phaedrus is?

            These chapters helped me reach a sort of understanding on Phaedrus, which I never thought was possible. This I think was revealed by the plan of sending Chris home on a bus and checking into a hospital. He believes that he is mentally ill. Phaedrus could be him, but a different side of him, somewhat of a different personality. This could make sense. He left it behind and now he is a completely different person. This explains why Robert Deweese thought he had changed so much. He technically is not the same person. I may be misinterpreting the entire novel, now that I have this idea in my head, but it can somewhat make sense. This makes the entire novel easier to understand. With only a few chapters left, I think I may have figured it out.

            Something else I found interesting in these chapters was the letter that Chris was writing to his mother. Why is this the first time she has been mentioned for a significant purpose? I feel like there must be an underlying meaning to this. I also find it interesting that he cannot find anything to write about, and has to brainstorm. He is talking to his own mother! I always have something to talk about with her, shouldn’t he? It is not like he is very close to his father. This makes me feel that he is lonely. This leads the narrator into a conversation about technology. It was once considered art, or so the narrator says. Then it advanced and people who no longer cared created the modern technology. Now he considers it to be ugly. This relates to modern technology in the way that everything becomes more technological. No one needs to talk to communicate; everything is “easier”. Just imagining modern technology actively used in the novel would make the situation between the narrator and Chris worse. They would literally have nothing to talk about, enjoy together, etc. They already have a hard time connecting, and technology is making it worse now a days. I think this is interesting that it came up in the book because everyone makes it such a big deal. The older generations hate that we are so dependent on our phones and computers, but we would not be able to live in the modern world without these devices. The are beneficial in some ways, but harmful in others.