Darkness And Night

"Un-Man."

At the end of Chapter II, Martin Donner dies. At the beginning of III, a shrilling and a voice in his head inform Robert Naysmith that Donner has disappeared and that he, Naysmith, must pick up Donner's job. The Un-Man dies. The Un-Man continues. In a screen adaptation, a single actor should play both of these characters and some others that are all clones of Stefan Rostomily. The same actor should also have played Rostomily in the previous instalment, "Marius."

Naysmith reflects on Donner:

"...his brain darkened, withdrawn into the great night..." (IV, p. 35)

An accurate description of death. In Donner's brain, neurons have stopped firing electrically and interacting electrochemically in ways that generate consciousness, including the perception of light. We experience night when we are awake after sunset but "the great night" refers to a time when we are in a deep, dreamless sleep.

The Un-Men tend to quote Shakespeare:

"In that sleep of death, what dreams may come..."

But how can dreams come when neurons have stopped firing?

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."