Subject: (urth) Forlesen and coal and railroad magnate Frick

From: Marc Aramini <marcaramini at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 20:52:53 +0000

For those of you who don't read through the long short story write ups I
do, thought I would throw this out there.  When Forlesen wakes up, he sees
a man with a gold tooth and a mole who he believes should be him but
isn't.  This man is mentioned several times as the highest executive on the
E.F. day, Ernie Frick.  Forlesen finally meets Frick at the end of his
day.  (At one point there is even a rumor that Frick talks to the computer,
though he isn't a programer)

During his drive there, the hitchhiker Abraham tells Forleson that "coal
and the railroads" buy the legislature and later when he is playing
 bet-your-life the skiing obsessed manager increases bidding on
snowmobiles, opens a new territory, and shuts down coal, oil, and shoes.
Forlesen has been associated with oil all along, with oil stains under his
car and all his food tasting oily, and when he awoke he perceived his naked
feet as shoes. Coal and the railroads happen to be the business of the real
life partner of Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, who was notorious for
his staunch anti-union tactics which at one time involved erecting fences
with barbed wire and rifle holes for Pinkertons to break a strike where
many workers died.  When Forlesen is first descending to the industrial and
corporate section from the highway, he notes that the buildings look like
they are fortified as if against attackers.  This resonates pretty well
with the famous Frick strikes.

I don't think the mention of coal and railroads buying the legislature is
any coincidence - at one point Frick was called the most hated man in
America and an assassination attempt was made on his life.  Was this
universe made for Frick? (ie - the first kind of dead mentioned in the red
book). Is this Frick's punishment? Obviously they have different first
names, Henry and Ernie.
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