Interpreting Peace [ Digest urth.v009.n013]

Paul C Duggan <pduggan at world.std.com> asks: [6] What's with the memos and such nailed to Weer's desk? I saw this as: 1) saying the office is unchangeable, fixed--it is a memory, not the real thing: another hint to the reader that Weer is dead. It is a preserved corpse of an office. 2) the nails are also somewhat cruel, reminding us of "A Christmas Carol"'s ghost Morely, who says he "wears the chains he forged in life". Weer is nailed to his memos. -John