Some Pirate Freedom thoughts and questions

Matthew Keeley · 01 Jan 2008, 05:45 · from 2007-December.txt.gz

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From: matthew.keeley.1 at gmail.com (Matthew Keeley)
Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2008 00:45:31 -0500
Subject: (urth) Some Pirate Freedom thoughts and questions
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I know I'm reviving an old thread here, but it seemed more sensible than
starting a new one. I've just finished PF, and while I really liked it, the
Urth list has once again reminded me of how much I miss in Wolfe. So as to
avoid spoilers, I haven't read this list since PF's release, and I've missed
it.

A few quick thoughts: Does Chris ever explain why he becomes a priest? It's
not like he needs it for his disguise as Ignacio, a lay brother.

Also, when does he realize that he is Ignacio? I don't suppose he ever has a
mirror to look in while he's a pirate? Also, how does Chris' face get so
"beat up?" I don't recall Chris receiving any terrible blows to the head in
the course of his pirate adventuring, though he certainly gets beaten up
several times. Perhaps we should attribute Chris' face to the natural
"weathering" effect of his pirate life, though I'm not sure if he spends
enough time in the past for such a process to occur.

thalassocrat wrote:
> If you buy into a negative connotation for "Jesuitical", it's not
> surprising that Loyola is one of his favorite saints.

Something very similar came into my mind when I finished PF tonight - Chris
is wonderfully good at bending logic. Perhaps he justifies his
non-intervention in the life of his younger self by arguing that doing so
would be a form of suicide by time paradox? Could Ignacio make himself cease
to exist by stopping Chris from going back in time? Chris does, after all,
very explicitly state that no one has the right to suicide.

And of course, "Ignacio" is the Spanish version of Ignatius... Chris clearly
put some thought into his pseudonym.

thalassocrat wrote:
> Oh, no more appalling than the hypocrisy of many religious folk
> throughout the centuries (and I speak as one of them). Yes, he does
> stand faithful to his faith until it gets in the way of what he wants,
> and yes, he then does what he wants. Is that really so different from
> most of us? Wolfe is smart to have Chris transgress in ways we will
> disapprove, rather than by, say, using birth control against the
> teaching of his church.

The one mention of "birth control" in the text appalls Chris: Novia
describes her friends' abortions-by-boat, the thought of which, Chris says,
"make [him] sick." Here at least Chris seems in actual honest accord with
Church teaching.

thalassocrat wrote:

Look how quickly his squeamishness disappears.
> Recall his little walk with father Phil. Phil says he always feels
> like cheering when he sees the church steeple rising against the
> sky; Chris had the same feeling once - when they raised the black
> flag on the Castillo Blanco.

I agree, but surely it says something for Chris that he believes he should
feel that way? For once he seems cognizant of his own faults.

Another thought: Why doesn't Chris tell us exactly when his pirate days
were? All he says is that the numbers on the charts "didn't start with
twenty." We get a few more hints, as when the exploits of, say, Cromwell,
Morgan, etc. are mentioned as taking place approximately x years in the
past, but I doubt we'll be able to find an exact date.

What becomes of Chris' son? Are there any historical pirates with long and
difficult-to-pronounce Italian / Sicilian names? I wonder if Chris' son
follows his father into the family business. There's not much to indicate
that this would break Chris' heart.

What did Chris do to get confused for a Dutchman or a German? I don't think
he even spoke those languages.

Finally, I think we need to discuss the Pirates of the Caribbean films.
While hardly masterpieces, they seem to be in the minds of both Wolfe and
Chris. Chris mentions the inaccuracies of the pirate films he sees on TV,
and I'd tend to think the Pirates of the Caribbean films would be in fairly
constant rotation in 2010-era Florida; they're long out of theaters and ripe
for cable. I suppose Chris could be watching Captain Blood on a classic
movie channel instead, but I think Wolfe was inspired by Disney's trilogy.
So many parts of PF seem like rebuttals to PotC (all the mentions of rape,
slavery, torture, etc. plus the discussions on the youth of pirates and the
size of pirate ships).

I've only seen the first two Pirates movies, but I remember the first film
described how a person could be both "a pirate and a good man." I think
Wolfe has a few things to say about such a possibility...

Any thoughts on other pirate fiction that might have gone into PF? I'm
wondering in particular about Captain Blood, which from what I gather has
some ideas Wolfe might like. Alas, I haven't read the book or seen the
movie, so I can't elaborate too much. Still, I know that the book is about a
Catholic forced into piracy and his attempts to remain honest.
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