All in all, the Village Administration has to have advanceed warning of any potential arrival, to make ready their 'Home from Home.'
Be seeing you
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Prismatic Reflection
As far as the Village Administration goes, just when did they get to know of the Prisoner-Number 6's potential arrival? How much advanced notice did they need? It's alright for the Prisoner to go and hand in his letter of resignation, and subsequently be abducted to the Village, to wake up in what appears to be his own home.
It takes time to prepare a cottage such as this. Admittedly the only parts of '6 Private,' that we know are identical to the Prisoner's home in London, is the study area and bathroom, because we do not see the kitchen and bedroom of his London home, but certainly they were not all on the ground floor. We learn this much in 'Many happy Returns,' when Number 6 goes upstairs to wash and shave. And there are the decorations, fixtures and fittings. The contents, bic-a-brac, furniture pictures etc, all of which have to be sourced. Unless of course you believe all the contents have been moved from No.1 Buckingham Place to '6 Private,' that itself would take time, to pack and transport. But fore that, there is the question of construction. The interior of '6 Private' might have looked verydifferent for it's previous occupant, and constructural amendments would have been required to make the interior of the cottage to look like it does. And the same would be said of the cottage of Number 8, for Nadia Rakovsky to seemingly wake up in that she thought to be her own home. And then there is the Professor and his wife, they lived in a far bigger house than Number 6 or Number 8, and with far more possessions, creating a far larger logistical problem. If indeed the hosue we see, and the possessions they owned are their own in the first palce of course. The thing with the Professor and his wife is, they came to the Village of their own free will, and therefore would not be required to wake up in what they thought to be their own home. But on the other hand, the Village Administration might have wanted the Professor and his wife to feel very much at home in the Village, so what we see could be a replica of their own home. After all the Professor and his wife may have gone to the Village of their own free will, but they are still Prisoners, they can never leave!
All in all, the Village Administration has to have advanceed warning of any potential arrival, to make ready their 'Home from Home.'
Be seeing you
All in all, the Village Administration has to have advanceed warning of any potential arrival, to make ready their 'Home from Home.'
Be seeing you
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The decision to abduct the person we'd come to know as Number Six must have been made immediately after his actual resignation, there's the hearse following his car, the undertaker. But we do not know how much time went past between the kidnapping and his arrival in the Village. Could be hours, could be days. I tend to think it's rather days. So there would have been enough time to get some of his furniture and belongings and bring it to the unknown place. Not every piece needed to be remodelled. - BCNU
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteThat's true, although I don't think it would be days between the Prisoner's abduction and his arrival in the Village. Although he could have been kept heavily sedated in the hospital for a number of days.
It might have been that the Administration had had planned to bring the Prisoner to the Village before his resigning his job. After all the Prisoner had been under surveillance before his abduction, the only question by whom? And was that surveilance being carried out before or after his resigning his job?.....Oh dear, there I was agreeing with you, which I still do, then in attempting to justify soemthing else, I've ended up with more questions than answers, but isn't that 'the Prisoner' for you?
Regards
David
Be seeing you
There's a further interesting devaluation of "time" in Arrival I have thought - perhaps deliberately allegorised by the aged old woman in the rocking chair. How long has she been there!! When the prisoner wakes after his first attempt to escape we have no clear idea whether he has been in that hospital bed for hours or days. It's almost like a second arrival in fact as he only becomes completely a villager after that, with his id card issued etc.
ReplyDeleteHello Anonymous,
Delete45 years on, who would think that the series could still provoke some quite original thinking about the series.
I agree with you and nr6de, true enough. So does not 'The Prisoner' also disinorientate? For I had not thought of it being like a second 'Arrival' for the Prisoner after he leaves to hospital as you suggest, issued with his card of identity etc. But yes I can see that, because with the arrival of a 'new' Number 2, it's almost like two episodes in one. The arrival of the 'new' Number 2 forcing the Prisoner to begin all over again!
Regards
David
BCNU
That's true. At its best the series takes away our sense of direction (where is the Village?), dimension (how large is it really?), perception (repair man/gardener) and that of time: how long has he been here? Thus creating a feeling of "anything could happen". But it's also true, such instances occur only sporadically, most notably in "Arrival", in "Free For All", "Dance of the Dead" and perhaps "Checkmate", maybe also "Once Upon A Time". - BCNU
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteAn interesting comment indeed. 'The Prisoner' questioning direction - dimension - perception - time - the sense of place and being, and possibly questioning reality itself.
The Village could be anywhere and nowhere, it might be a dream as suggested in 'Dance of the Dead,' when Number 6 admits to Number 2 that he likes his dream. Although he could be dreaming or remembering the world outside the Village.
There is no perception of time, of how long the Village has been in existance, certainly since the war, before the war, the only question is, which war?
Dimensions, the Village is made to look larger than it actually is, through a variety of different angles of the same view, or going up the same street in both directions. And the cottage of '6 Private,' it's far larger on the inside than it is on the outside!
'The Prisoner' has been akinned to 'Alice In Wonderland,' a place where anything could happen at any moment!
Regards
David
BCNU
Apart from the subjects often discussed: personality, identity theft, surveillance, paranoia... One may call it "surrealistic incursion" or whatever. To me, essentially, this is the surplus value of the series that made it endure. - BCNU
ReplyDelete@ The Village could be anywhere and nowhere, @
ReplyDelete"Geography is a matter of physical illusion. Lines on a map. Words on a signpost. It’s this that gives a place it’s identity. After all, you are where you recognise yourself to be. Mr. Donovan says that all countries are countries of the mind."
http://numbersixwasinnocent.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/mcgoohan-on-my-mind-where-am-i-in.html
Hello Moor,
ReplyDeleteVery good, from 'Colony Three.' "All countries are countries of the mind." And that is another aspect pf THEPRIS6NER-09, it makes you question your reality, your sense of place, where you are!
Regards
David
BCNU