The Floating Opera 4/16

• Double Narrative (172)
• What was the point of having two introductions to this chapter? Did it compensate for Bath's inability to choose between the two? Can we draw a parallel between the two introductions? 

• Reaction to Father's suicide (182)
• Reference made to the chicken
• throughout the story there has been references to the "animality" of the human race and I feel like the decision to remembering the killing of the chicken is another parallel Todd is subtly drawing
• Clear frustration and anger
• "It was a hard pill to swallow. Instead of swallowing it anyway, he hanged himself" (183)
• Series of rhetorical questions at beginning of last paragraph on 183
• Giving away 5,000 dollars (185)
• "If I was demoralized by Dad's death, I was paralyzed by the five thousand dollars"
• repeatedly insists "It's a gift"--I feel like there may be more meaning to this, but I can't quite pinpoint it myself.  Is there any significance to this supposed gift?
• Influence on Todd's definition of strength
• clearly condemns Harrison and Jane's anguish over the fact of losing 3 million dollars--says they're weak
• When Jane chooses the unprecedented third option to Todd's proposal Todd can't decided if it's "obtuseness, insincerity, or real and formidable strength" (215)
• seems like people who remain unaffected are strong to him. Had his father be unaffected by his losses, he wouldn't have committed suicide
• "test of one's principles is his willingness to suffer for them, and the test of this willingness--the only test--is actual suffering" (237)

• Inquiry (217)
• somewhat ironic for a person who seems to want all the answers to work on an endless task
• claims it's a project to discover the reasons behind his imperfect communication with his father
• makes some sense because, from the very beginning, Todd claims he has no true talent in the style of prose--could be a parallel to his perceived inability to communicate
• There are many times in fact, where Todd suffers from imperfect communication throughout the story, particularly with the Macks
• Rationales of the day (223 and 228)
• Nothing has intrinsic value
• the resons for which people attribule value to htings are always ultimately irrational
• There is, therefore, no ultimate "reason" for valuing anything
• Living is action. There's no final reason for action.
• There's no final reason for living
• revision made to this on p 250-- There's no final reason for living (or for suicide)
• came to an end with no answers; so if he doesn't live for a reason and has no reason to die either (he's clearly unreligious), what's the point of Todd's life? is the key to getting through life really just apathy?

• Masks
• the true despair in Todd's life was the fact that he was putting on a mask, a disguise, in an attempt to deal with his illness, but none of them work
• Clearly hates masks people put on because he doesn't like Mr. Haecker who he claims to be fake all the time--and Mr. Haecker actually does commit suicide
• "It's either pretend to be content, like a man, or go around wailing and weeping like a child."
• Haecker's idea somewhat mirrors Todd's definition of strength
• We can't be happy with false versions of ourselves
• Good quotes for this revelation:
• "...those masks were not assumed to hide my face, but to hide my heart from my mind and my mind from my heart" (223)
• "there is no way to master the fact with which I live" (226)
• "...the enemy you flee is not your external self" (227)
• Shakespeare quotes that were used (235-237)
• "all men and women nearly players..."