Subject: (urth) FLF

From: Robert Borski <rborski at charter.net>
Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 04:07:22 +0000

A few random notes from my weekend reread of _Free Live Free_ that may still
be pertinent, the vast majority of what I would have said having already
been duly noted, primarily by Mssrs. Nutria and Ansley back in V.30.

First the characters, Nutria casting them thusly:

"Now, in WWOz the three Oz characters are animal, vegetable, and mineral. I
don't know how Wolfe might be playing with this. But they are also mind,
emotion, and will. Stubb - very smart; mind (Scarecrow; vegetable?) Candy -
very loving; emotion (Tin Woodman; mineral?) Serpentina - very determined;
will (Lion; animal?) Which leaves Barnes as Dorothy, and Little Ozzie as
Toto. And of course Ben Free as the Wizard. Free is not a humbug, but I
think he is trapped in 'Oz', and only escapes through death. Free does move
upwards (compare the wizard's balloon)."

I'd like to propose a somewhat different mapping. (My apologies if this has
been suggested before, but I couldn't find it anywhere in the archives.)
Candy Garth is the very obvious Dorothy; she sings like the Dorothy of
cinematic Oz and Garth seems like one of those nested names Wolfe uses so
frequently (GAil, doRoTHy). Osgood Barnes, a.k.a. "Ozzy," is the wizard
manqué, the seller of cheap tricks and novelties. Madam Serpentina is the
witch. (Duh.) And little Stubbs, who's described as jockey size, is a
munchkin. This leaves only Ben Free, the true wizard--and someone whose
"magic" may also include changing water into wine and raising the dead (see
William Ansley's post).

One, of course, may also impose, as the author himself does, a Popeye
schema. Osgood = Popeye; M. Snake = Olive; Little Ozzy = Sweepea; Stubbs =
Wimpy; and Candy = Brutus???

In addition, several of the characters have M's associated with their names.
Madam Serpentina a.k.a. Marie; Osgood M. Barnes; Catharine M. Garth. But
what does the M stand for? An upside down W? A very oblique tip of the hat
to L. Frank Baum? (M being the next letter after L and this being Wolfe's
topsy-turvy version of  "The Wizard of Oz." Someone, somewhere, does say
something about being in the wrong movie.)

Then there's the "house" of Ben Free--Garth also meaning yard, Stubb (from
the German Stube, as Wolfe tells us) meaning room, and Barnes being where
you put the cows and horses.

Shared optical difficulties also prevent quite a few of the characters from
seeing properly. Osgood has a glass eye, Madam Serpentina wears contacts,
Stubbs has bottle-bottom glasses, and Free is described as poor sighted but
yet is able to detect someone's irises contracting in basement murk. Perhaps
the latter plays off the notion as God-as-clear-sighted and the rest of us
as His myopic underlings stumbling around in the dark.

Considering that FLF was written by Wolfe while on break from _Urth of the
New Sun_, might we describe the High Country shadow government of Ben Free
as a bunch of "High-rodules"?

And lastly, considering that the overall tone of the book is that of a light
Frank Capra movie, does anyone find it strange that this is the only Wolfe
work to contains the words f*ck, sh*t, motherf*cker and bullsh*t?

Robert Borski

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From: James Jordan <jbjordan4 at cox.net>
Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 15:32:38 +0000

At 11:07 PM 5/27/2002 -0500, the Borski wrote:
>A few random notes from my weekend reread of _Free Live Free_ that may 
>still be pertinent, the vast majority of what I would have said having already
>"Now, in WWOz the three Oz characters are animal, vegetable, and mineral. 
>I don't know how Wolfe might be playing with this. But they are also mind,

         This sure looks right, but I'll bet I'm right also. Surely Wolfe 
has read *Ringworld,* where the Oz characters are switched, so that the 
lion-like character lacks brains, the grotesque scarecrow puppeteer lacks 
courage, the Dorothy-girls lacks a heart, etc. Knowing what we do of Wolfe, 
and the fact that Christian imagery and also Popeye stuff is laid over the 
characters, I would not be surprised if both your and my schemes are "right."

>Wimpy; and Candy = Brutus???

         Do you think maybe the Pop-EYE overlay has something to do with 
the theme of seeing clearly, as you set it out? Or maybe it's just more 
"America" stuff.

>something about being in the wrong movie.)

         Dunno, of course. But I have toyed with Marie as some kind of 
cypher for the Church/Mary. Ben Free is some kind of "Americanized Christ 
figure," and the new group he forms is a kind of new Church, and Marie is 
part of it.

>you put the cows and horses.

         Sounds right, especially if this "house" of persons "elected" by 
Ben (Christ) Free is some kind of new "America"-church.

>as His myopic underlings stumbling around in the dark.

         I took it as the blindness (imperception) of sin (they all have 
besetting sins) that some kind of "grace" needs to overcome. Free also has 
poor physical eyesight (thus being like those he is saving), but has clear 
in-sight, which is what the characters need to arrive at.

>as a bunch of "High-rodules"?

         Perhaps. But given that it was written then, I think we are 
entitled to look for some of the same themes, such as obviously travelling 
the corridors of time.

Nutria

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From: Jerry Friedman <jerry_friedman at yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 20:30:09 +0000

--- Robert Borski <rborski at charter.net> wrote:
> still
> Toto.

Well, I like Little Ozzie as Toto.

> And of course Ben Free as the Wizard. Free is not a humbug, but I
> witch. (Duh.)

Which witch?  Both (or all three)?

> And little Stubbs, who's described as jockey size, is a
> "magic" may also include changing water into wine and raising the dead
> (see William Ansley's post).

This makes as much sense to me as anything, but to me the resemblance
to _The Wizard of Oz_ is mostly that it's four characters having
adventures on a quest and ending up conferring with someone who can
tell them some answers and grant wishes.  As Nutria implied, I doubt
there are good correspondences between characters in the two works.
 
> something about being in the wrong movie.)

Now that M is an interesting one.

> you put the cows and horses.

I hadn't noticed that!  Then Madame S. would be the wild snake that
slithers in now and then, or the ancient Greek "house snake" (which
I know about from a highly reliable historical source: _The King
Must Die_.)

> the latter plays off the notion as God-as-clear-sighted and the rest of
> us as His myopic underlings stumbling around in the dark.

A good one, but how does Candy fit in?  She sees clearly, but can't
control the appetites of the flesh?

> work to contains the words f*ck, sh*t, motherf*cker and bullsh*t?

Heh heh.  I guess people don't swear in the future, the past, or
alternate timelines.

Jerry Friedman

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