That anyone should think that the Prisoner-No.6 was a rebel, after all in his life prior to his resignation and subsequent abduction to The Village, he was a successful member of the establishment, and society as a whole. He was engaged to Janet Portland, he lived in a large house in the City of Westminster
Yet there comes a time when the rebel inside departs, and you begin to accept your circumstances, as No.6, and others like him have done in The Village. One cannot rebel against something forever, it would be like banging your head against the wall. I rebelled, I made my voice heard in society, and other voices joined me. But for some they were not true to the rebellion, but as one by one others fell away, I was left to stand virtually alone. So I walked away from the failed rebellion, leaving others to stew in their own juice. But yet, in the following months, others followed my lead, and they too departed the society in their multitudes. For them it was easier to walk away than to fight. For myself, my rebellion was pure and wanted no power for myself, unlike others who each had their own agendas, or personal fight. But no matter what I was to do, I could see that nothing in society was to change. And today, well others are in charge of society, but from what I gather, society is worse now than ever it was before. with no-one allowed to show any signs of descent! Today society is made up of sheep, and now there is not one goat amongst them!
Be seeing you
Hello David,
ReplyDeleterecently I've read an interesting statement about todays society, not in relation to The Prisoner, but nevertheless valid, in my opinion. It said, approximately, that in todays society we live in a system that's capable of coping even with freedom. Every criticism is absorbed not by forbidding, but by allowing it. So, in the end your freedom is used to keep you in line, or as the autor put it: "Disobedience has become a form of obedience". I think he is quite right.
Imagine Number Six would have been allowed to do and try everything, but leaving the system... Or, as Number 2 puts it, when Number 6 states his unanimous majority: "Exactly, that's what's worrying me. Very bad for morale. Some of these good people don't seem to appreciate the value of free elections. They think it's a game."
In my opinion there may be many goats today, but also many people who join them and proof that they might be the better sheep.
Best regards,
Jana
Be seeing you!
Hello Jana,
DeleteA very intresting comment. It makes one think.
Regards
David
BCNU
I'm not quite sure what you're aiming at, David. Like you I take it that No. 6 wasn't a rebel neither in terms of No. 48, as a hippie, a drop-out, nor one like, say, Che Guevara. He didn't have to. All he needed to be was deviant seen from the (ruling) System's POV. That's what matters. He dissented one way or the other. Perhaps (alrigth, that's my hobby horse) he did what Jack Bauer was doing until only recently (interrogating, torturing, under-cover activities etc.) and then became aware of what he was doing, in the name of the System, and stepped down. Now a potential threat to the System and he was taken away. - BCNU!
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteTo be perfectly honest neither do I! It's just that there are those prepared to speak out, and there are those who accept any situation as it is, without question. People will put up with anything, even though it can be seen as wrong. I once saw something as being wrong in a society. I tried to do something about it, I do not wish to say what it was a very long time ago now, but I soon found out that I was whistling into the wind. And so walked out on the situation.
Regards
David
BCNU