Subject: (urth) "at last" and 5HoC questions

From: Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <ddanehy at siebel.com>
Date: Thu, 09 Nov 2000 13:23:22 +0000

Hi,

Roy observed that:

> While describing building his fancy house, [Weer] wrote "when the 
> company at last came into my hands" (35). That phrase "at last"
> certainly sounds to me as if he had reason to anticipate acquiring
> the company.

While I agree with this as stated I don't think it means as much
as Roy suggests: to whom would Julius leave the company? Olivia 
was already dead, it seems certain that they'd had no children. 
If Julius died intestate, a the court proceeding which would 
determine who got his fortune would almost certainly be drawn-out.
The opening of his tale mentions vague "relations," but there's 
no reason to suspect siblings. These might apply for the estate,
or a share in it; but as Weer (unlike them) had actually been
involved with the company for years, I would guess most judges
would award it (though perhaps not other things such as cash and
real estate) to him... at last.

****

Meanwhile, I've just finished reading FIFTH HEAD for, rather
surprisingly, only the second time, and find that there are some
pretty basic things I don't understand. I know that many people
find the last line of the first part very disturbing: I truly 
do not understand _why_.

Also, is there any reason to believe that there was ever a real 
John V. Marsch?  I mean, by that name -- there clearly was a 
homeworld anthropologist. I ask because "John Marsch" sounds
_exactly_ like the name of an abo as described in the beginning
of part 2: "John" is the name of all men born to the people,
and "Marsch" would be a logical name for a child born in the
meadomeres. Toss this together with the Earth passport having
been "tampered with," and I wonder if "VRT" simply took his
abo name and applied it to his new identity...

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