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Saturday 31 August 2013

Prismatic Reflection

    So the former No.6 vindicated the right of the individual to be individual, and yet previous to this, the Village Administration frowned upon anyone showing individual tendencies. The cult of the individual, it’s not allowed. No.6 is an individual and individuals are always trying. But what is it to be an individual? What makes an individual stand out from the crowd, to stand out in society?
    An individual is someone who acts differently. Thinks differently, behaves differently, and may dress differently to others around him or her. An individual is not someone who runs with the hounds, as he’s more likely to be the fox, or her, the vixen. And yet society is made of such individuals, free thinking people like you and I.
    In the Village the cult of the individual is frowned upon, it is not acceptable to think for oneself. The Village is uniform, there is no room for independent style of dress, or is there? The
Butler is allowed to wear his cape inside out, this could be deemed as an act of the individual who is trying to look different, to stand out in the crowd. He would do anyway, seeing as he is the only dwarf in the Village. And also No.240, she too is permitted to wear her cape inside out, and in that she displays individualistic tendencies, or does she? There is of course another way of looking at it. It might simply be that No.240 and the Butler simply do not wish to look stupid wearing a garishly colourful striped cape!
    Mrs Butterworth, or if you prefer Number Two. She is wearing a dress in the Village, her numbered badge pinned upon her dress. But we could forgive her for that, as in all likely hood, Mrs Butterworth has only recently arrived in the Village, and has not had time to take on the more uniformal dress of the Village. And yet she’s had time to bake a cake!
   Nadia arrives in the Village wearing a navy blue cardigan and skirt, her own clothes obviously. Later as No.8, she wears a pink jersey and pink slacks. They do not appear to be relative to the usual Village attire, and so could easily be her own clothes. Furthermore, there is the Professor and Madam Professor who also wear their own clothes in the Village. This of course is possibly one of the privileges they enjoy for having come to the Village of their own free will. And yet, the Professor and his wife are never seen out and about the Village. They appear to spend most of their time in their home {not sure where the house is positioned in the Village}. Even Madam Professor’s art seminars are held in the garden of their home. The only time the Professor appears t leave his house is when he’s busy working in the General’s office, or that time he’s found running away from the Village along the beach.
    Number Eighty-six is under the illusion that she is higher than Number Two, is that why she wears her own dress? And I do mean the actress Angela Browne’s very own dress that she wore in other
ITC television series.
    In ’Dance of the Dead,’ the Prisoner was allowed to wear his own clothes, and that was after he’d been told they had been burnt! And then again in ‘Fall Out,‘ it was suggested to Number Six that he might feel happier as himself. But Number Six wasn’t the only one to be wearing his own clothes, this also applied to Number Forty-eight! Others in the Village also worn their own clothes, such as the two Colonels and Fotheringay, but then they were not really citizens of the Village. But clothes alone do not maketh the individual, yet they do make you stand out, as the former No.2 stood out when he was back in London, still dressed in Village attire. Except that time during the election in the Village, remember? Number Two didn’t dress as other Chairmen of the Village. Instead of the usual plain, dark, double breasted, he wore a dove grey jacket with cuffs at the end of the sleeves, rather unusual I thought. And at the same time, was the new Number Two in ’Arrival’ challenging convention by wearing a piped blazer?
    Individualism, it can be demonstrated in many ways, not simply by the use of free thinking, that’s what the Rook-Number Fifty-three did that time on the human chessboard, much good that did him. And in any case the King had already castled with the King’s Rook, so the move was in invalid one anyway!
   I myself enjoy demonstrating individual tendencies, for example, sometimes when I wear a tie I wear it without a knot. What I mean is, I tie the tie as usual, but I don’t put the large tongue of the tie though the knot, the knot is behind the large tongue. No don’t laugh, I learned to do that when I was in the fifth year at school, and I think it looks dashed smart, what’s more it’s different. No-one else I know ties a tie like it. Sometimes I go about the town wearing a top hat and frock coat, or my arrival suit jacket and black jeans, such is my demonstration of individualism. The only trouble with that, there comes a time when people fail to notice, they get used to seeing a man going about town wearing a top hat. So much so that two or three others are now seen to be going about town wearing top hats. Perhaps we should form a society, the one rule being the wearing of a top hat! But all joking apart, where is my individualism now? It would seem that my nature to dress differently to others will have to evolve if I and to regain my so called individualism.
    But I digress, there is little room for the demonstration of individualism through Village attire. Mind you it must have raised some eyebrows when No.6 started to go about the Village in a cream blazer with black piping. And he seemed to have taken to wearing his badge, that must have turned a few heads. After all he’d never been known to wear his badge before.
    I used to live in a Village. I used to wear my No.6 badge with pride. But it was frowned upon, other villagers didn’t understand. Wearing that badge made me stand out, it made me an individual. Oh it wasn’t always the No.6 badge, quite often it was a badge with a black background, white penny farthing, and no number. I have a whole box full of Prisoner based badges, it’s been a long time since……..well I don’t wear them much any more, only when occasion demands. You see it’s not the wearing or not wearing the badge that matters, that‘s not important. It’s what’s inside, the Six inside, the you inside………..the me inside, that makes us individuals.

Be seeing you

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