Dichotomy, symmetry and unity appear to be among the strongest themes in TRST. Like the Rorschach inkblots, many of the characters and situations present dual aspects that may be interpreted as two distinct but reflective elements (alternately “the view” and “the reflection” mirrored and organized along a central axis or concept), or alternately (and from a different paradigm), may be interpreted as a single whole.

There has been much discussion about Scout being a shade of Clio (in fact she allegedly was reconceptualized _twice_ by Eric). Trey Fiderous could be a fragmented echo of Eric’s grandfather - brylcreem, changing moods and all. The burr burr burr signaling the approach of the harpooned but relentless Ludovician is the same burr burr burr of phone calls from Clio’s dad that to Eric signals an inevitable onset of guilt, fear and anguish. Even the postcard’s twin stamps are positive-negative versions of each other. Two states of the same thing.

The First and Second Eric Sandersons are, in a way, mirror images of each other. The First Eric is the ‘ghost’ that haunts and pushes the Second forward towards fulfillment of the First’s original mission of saving Clio. Alternately, the disassociated, memory-less Second Eric is also just an artifact, a fragment, a ghost of the First Eric, who relies on information from the First to reassemble his identity. The fact that the First Eric ‘resides’ in the past, yet communicates to the Second from future letters, is another layer of oscillating duality. Ultimately, the two Erics are really just one, in both a physical sense (i.e. they are the same biological entity) and a metaphysical sense (because of this interdependence and alternation). While the novel initially presents an ‘inkblot’ comprising two Erics, as events transpire, the whole Eric formed by these two parts is revealed.

Eric, as the mythical Orpheus, descends to Tartarus (that is, unspace) _twice_ to retrieve Eurydice/Clio from death. In the first instance, he does not succeed, and like Orpheus who is torn to bits by Maenads (another way of saying he went insane), he loses himself to the Ludovician. In the second instance, the outcome is not quite as clear. At novel’s end the Second Eric appears to be in two states/worlds at the same time: alive and happy in Naxos, and failed and dead in Deansgate. The postcard stamps echo this: he either “passed through Ariadne’s arch” on the path to despair and destruction, or he transformed/“reversed” his fate and achieved happiness. It is up to the reader (possibly a _third_ Eric Sanderson to whom this manuscript and artifacts are left??) to decide which version is more applicable (believable, aligned with one’s _convictions_?). Observation, value judgment and personal interpretation are required of the reader, in the same way one would interpret a Rorschach inkblot.

These concepts, in the most rudimentary sense, are intrinsic to the thought experiment “Schrodinger’s Cat”. This quantum physics experiment demonstrates the principle of superposition: any object (in this case a cat in a sealed chamber) is actually in all possible states simultaneously (i.e. both dead AND alive in the chamber), as long as no one checks its status. It is the observation itself that causes the object to have a single state (dead OR alive). Tegmark (!) developed the experiment further, _taking the view of the cat_. Is Ian in fact Schrodinger’s conceptual cat?? As such, Ian symbolizes the possibility of multiple states of being (states of mind?) and permits both fates of Eric (Incidentally, Ian himself has a ‘twin’ in the unseen Gavin.).

Perhaps there are then no right or wrong interpretations of Eric’s fate – both fates are valid until filtered through what is believed to be true to and resonant with the reader/observer. In this sense (i.e. “seeing the inkblot as a whole”), the novel itself is literally “The Rorschach Test”.

great stuff santonio! and welcome to unspace.

Just started reading TRST again, which I've never felt inclined to do with any book before (with the exception of Illuminatus Trilogy - but that was too much effort).

After reading your post, the time Eric is born struck me:

4:34

Symmetry.

Interesting and intelligent observations Santonio.

Pete

Just bumping this thread in case anyone hasn't read santonio's interpretation.

Brilliant observings!
I wish I read this thread when I finished the english copy, and it didn't struck me until now with raw shark and Rorschach :P
The Rorschach Test
The Raw shark Text

brilliant!