He thinks:
"Today this grisly thing will end." (p. 145)
In view of how this chapter will end for Orestes himself, this sentence is retroactively ironic.
He wonders what happened between Julia and Byron. We know. He thinks that Matt, who has been eliminated from the contest, might be in partnership with one of the others. He is. Orestes wrongly dismisses the idea that Matt and Gayle are in collusion.
He categorizes those of the other characters whom he hates:
Haverner, shark;
Nordberg, hagfish;
Flagler, "...poisonous drifting Portuguese man-of-war." (ibid.) (Dangerous, man!)
The others are likeable but pathetic.
Flagler has tried "...to nigger..." (ibid.) Cruz, who is black. What does "nigger" mean as a verb?
Orestes also quotes Latin:
"How does the Latin go? Sol Invictus!" (p. 146)
He thinks that Julia has a Scythian head over a Grecian body. He quotes Enrico Brunner. (?)
Ellis emphatically tells Matt and Gayle to leave the beach and do what seems best. Orestes' challenge is that those still in the contest must remain naked in the sun on the beach all day. His skin color is an advantage against the sun but not against a bullet.
See POV And Death.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Considering how this chapter ended for Orestes, his thought about "this grisly thing" was indeed retroactively ironic!
I think Orestes' use of "to nigger" in this context means Matt Flagler tried to be condescendingly arrogant to him.
Ad astra! Sean
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