When they brought the Prisoner to the Village, did they know exactly what they were doing? Ordinarily the ordinary man-in-the-street could chuck up his job and nothing would be made of it. But not so in the case of the Prisoner. He had a top secret, confidential job, which he saw as being above the law. One time he was on a mission, in a car, travelling at great speed, perhaps recklessly, in a resrticted zone. There was an accident, how many dead? The Prisoner had to, he had a reason. He was on a mission, one of life and death, but could not say whose life or death, because it was secret business, confidential top state secret. Perhaps the Prisoner was in a hurry to get away, maybe to get someone else away, Seltzman perhaps. In his other persona of John Drake, such confidentail, top state secret business would have been second nature.
But the arrogance of the man. The Prisoner not only sees such work as being above the law, but he sees himself outside of society. When Number 2 insists that he is a unit of society, the Prisoner denies this. Denies that he is a member of the Village. The Prisoner is as much Village as anyone else, did he not admit as much to the new Number 2 in 'Arrival?'
Number 6 "Get him."
"I have taken his place. I am the new Number Two."
"Get Number One."
"As far as you are concerned I'm in charge. What can I do for you?"
"Cobb!"
"What we do has to be done. It's the law of survival. It's either them or us."
"Imprison people. Steal their minds, destroy them!"
"Depends on whose side you're on, doesn't it?"
"I'm on our side."
There you are "Depends on whose side you are on." "I'm on our side" the Prisoner admits. Which indicates to me that the Prisoner known as Number 6 has known about the Village all the time, has previosuly been an active member within it's community. Having once refused the offer of ultimate power, he now finds himself a Prisoner in his own Village! Well it has to be a Village of the Prisoner's own making, seeing as he's the alter ego of Number 1. And thereby he can be seen in the Village in two places at the same time, as during 'The Chimes of Big Ben. Perhaps sometimes, they might change places, which according to Number 2, is the case in extreme cases.
Did they know what they were doing when they brought the Prisoner to the Village? Possibly not, because they had brought a goat to the Village, a goat amongst so many sheep. And when that happens there's bound to be trouble!
I'll be seeing you next time.
"I'm on our side." says the Prisoner. This doesn't necessarily imply he was informed about such a thing as the Village or even a member of it. In "Arrival" he surprisedly asks the taxi driver "What would a Czech or Pole be doing here?" obviously taking for granted he was still on "our side", no reason for him to assume he might be on "the other side" of the Iron Curtain at that time.
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
ReplyDeleteYes I can see where you are coming from, as I've been there. But we know that the Village is not behind the Iron Curtain, is there really anything to suggest that the Village is run by a foreign power? After all different departments of British Intelligence are responsible for different aspects of security. One British department could be running the Village, without the knowledge of other departments. Hence the need for secrecy. So the Village could be run by one British department in Intelligence, and the Prisoner work for another. But in both cases they would be on the same side, "Our side."
And if the oriental taxi driver thought the Prisoner might be Czech of a Pole, why speak to him in French?!
Best regards
David
Be seeing you