Thought For The Day

     In Checkmate it is not only No.6 who plays a fine game, No.14-the chess champion gives an excellent account of himself as the Village Guardian comes bounding along the road. in the opening few moments of the episode. Everyone in the street stands stock still, cyclists dismount their bicycles and stand to the side of the road as the Guardian bounds past. But not so No.14, he carries on walking as though in defiance of the white mass of the Guardian, who also pays no heed to No.14 as it passes by!
   So if citizens are supposed to 'be still' as the Guardian passes by, and No.14 is in defiance of this rule, why then didn't the Village Guardian turn on No.14? I have often wondered. And if nothing happens when you are not 'being still' what's the point in the first place? Unless it is simply to exert control and manipulation over the citizens. Well that seems to work well enough, because when that sound emitted by the Village Guardian is heard, it seems second nature for citizens to 'be still' as the Guardian passes by. And it is probably that which No.14 is rebelling against, and not the Guardian itself. Or perhaps No.14 has no fear of the Village Guardian as one citizen showed in Arrival, that could be something else!   Be seeing you.