PEACE as Faust

StoneOx17 · 04 Oct 2002, 13:32 · from urth-v0210.mbox · original

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From: StoneOx17 at aol.com
Subject: (urth) PEACE as Faust
Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 09:32:25 EDT
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A while ago, I read Robert Borski's essay, "The Devil his Due," which makes=20
the connection of Peace with Faust, and identifies Weer as the devil.  I=20
think that Borski often notices interesting things in Wolfe's writing,=20
although he doesn't always draw the right conclusions from them, and I thin=
k=20
that's the case here.  I can't accept Weer as the devil, but the essay did=20
lead me to think about identifying Julius with the devil, and that led me t=
o=20
an interesting interpretation of the banshee story, which I posted here a f=
ew=20
weeks ago.  Shortly after that, an image suddenly hit me that connects Peac=
e=20
to Faust.  The image is the one at the end of many versions of Faust, with=20
the devil dragging Faust down to hell as Margrete looks down from Heaven (o=
r=20
ascends to Heaven) and prays for him to be saved. The connection, of course=
,=20
is to the end of the book, where, while Aunt Olivia calls Weer on the=20
intercom, Weer makes the fatal error of looking to the enchanted headrest o=
f=20
the Chinese philosopher (and thus reliving his afterlife) rather than prayi=
ng=20
to Jesus for salvation.   So we have the identification of Olivia with=20
Margrete, and Weer with Faust.  More on this identification later.

Is this really the right interpretation of the ending, leaving the ghost of=20
Weer caught eternally in purgatory, while Olivia has ascended to heaven?  I=
t=20
seems right to me, but I have only a few pieces of evidence for this:

First, when she's gathering information about the Chinese egg, Olivia=20
convinces herself that, besides the Lorn's egg showing the scenes from the=20
Resurrection, there is also a matching egg showing the Ascension, and she=20
writes to a New York museum asking about it.  A literal reading of this=20
raises some bewildering questions (how does she draw this conclusion before=20
she's even seen the egg?), but I believe this is intended to be read=20
metaphorically: Weer has been resurrected as a ghost, but Olivia has not on=
ly=20
been resurrected but has also subsequently ascended to heaven. =20

Next, at the end of the Chinese philosopher's story, we find the passage:
"Fool!" the old man exclaimed.  "Do you not recognize me?  I have granted=20
your heart's desire, and for it I receive your ingratitude!" =20
Is this not also a plausible response to somebody who has turned down the=20
offer of eternal life?

Finally, the end of Peace occurs right after Dan French's story of the gees=
e=20
of Loch Conn, which really should have served as a hint to Weer: "... And i=
n=20
time, men, too, will pass, as every man who lives long learns in his own=20
body.  But Jesus Christ saves all."

Thinking about it some more, I believe that that there are multiple=20
identifications of characters in Peace with those in Faust.  We have to=20
identify both Margaret and Olivia with Margrete, both Weer and Julius with=20
Faust, and both Julius and Mr. Tilly with the devil.  So we have Mr. Tilly=20
passing his (carny) knowledge to Julius, who then passes the (secret?)=20
formula for turning lead into gold (oops, I mean potatoes into imitation=20
frozen orange juice) on to Weer.  From Charles Turner's letter, it's not=20
clear whether the carny medicines are really a benefit for their recipients=
. =20
And as Borski notes, in the long run the factory certainly has an evil effe=
ct=20
on the surrounding farms. =20

-- Stone Ox

--=20

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