“I am not a number, I am a free man” said the Prisoner, which later he changed to “person,” “I am not a number, I am a person.” But being a person, does that make you any better than being a number? Does it change who you are, inside I mean, the psyche of who you are? Not having a name for example, but given a number. There are those who would say that numbers are more individual than names, unless you happen to have an extremely odd name. There could be dozens of people with exactly the same name, but how many with the same number? In the Village numbers are unique to the individual, for example there is only one number Six, except when there are two. And if by chance two people share the same number, then a number is sub-divided with a letter as in 113b and 113c. Relationships in the Village can bring peoples numbers together, Six and Twelve for example, two numbers that seem related, Six and two times Six. Six and 1 as in No.1, which together they make 7, the original number of episodes of ’the Prisoner in Patrick McGoohan’s eyes. Then there are father and daughter, the Watchmaker-No.51, and his daughter Monique-No.50, so presumably her mother and the wife of the Watchmaker was either 52 or possibly 49. But whatever the number, whatever the relationship, one thing is guaranteed in the Village, under normal circumstances there is only ever one of each number in the Village. Because as a number becomes vacant, through someone actually leaving the Village, or someone having died, it is re-issued to a new arrival in the Village. But is that completely true? I only ask, because what of the numbered gravestones in the Village cemetery, such as 73 and 113? If the dead remained numbered, does that mean that such a number as 113 is no longer used in the Village?
“I am a free man” said the Prisoner, a free man, who is ever really free? A slave can become a “free man.“ Each of us can become a prisoner of something, ‘the Prisoner’ for example, well I can think of much worse things, we are prisoners, we are all lifers. From the moment we are born we are dependent on our mother and father, they are our warders telling us what we can and cannot do, and we have become instant Prisoners! But as infants we are completely unaware of that, and even if we were, what could we do about it? Out of infancy we learn as we grow, although it might be the other way round, or even both at the same time. We develop in body and mind, we formulate our own opinions, likes and dislikes. As teenagers we begin to rebel, because we know it all, or think we know it all, and that is true of every generation. As individuals we learn to interact with others of our kind, we become a person, “I am a person” the prisoner said in that forceful way of his.
It was as though the Prisoner was rebelling against numbers, in fact he told the Judge as much, “I was rebelling my Lord, I was rebelling against the figures my Lord.” And this once having worked in a bank! Certainly the Prisoner admitted that he’s good at figures. In the past he was known by his code name ZM73, so the Prisoner really should have had no problem being known by a number. So why rebel against being a number in the Village? Perhaps he was afraid of being reduced to nothing more than a statistic! It might be the Prisoner sees numbers as being inhuman, that by being reduced to a number he was somehow being dehumanised. But being a number does not take away the person inside, because it’s what’s inside that matters, that makes you who you are.
It is said by the President that the former Number 6 had survived the ultimate test, that he had survived secure and intact. What kind of person is that? Someone who doesn’t bend, not even a little, but still does not break. Someone who has gone through the ordeal as the former Number 6 had, to come through still strong and unimpaired, what kind of person does that?
The former Number 6 may look physically the man he was, and appears not to have suffered a scratch. But inside, mentally, that may very well be a different matter, although he may not admit it, dare not admit it, especially to himself!
Be seeing you
“I am a free man” said the Prisoner, a free man, who is ever really free? A slave can become a “free man.“ Each of us can become a prisoner of something, ‘the Prisoner’ for example, well I can think of much worse things, we are prisoners, we are all lifers. From the moment we are born we are dependent on our mother and father, they are our warders telling us what we can and cannot do, and we have become instant Prisoners! But as infants we are completely unaware of that, and even if we were, what could we do about it? Out of infancy we learn as we grow, although it might be the other way round, or even both at the same time. We develop in body and mind, we formulate our own opinions, likes and dislikes. As teenagers we begin to rebel, because we know it all, or think we know it all, and that is true of every generation. As individuals we learn to interact with others of our kind, we become a person, “I am a person” the prisoner said in that forceful way of his.
It was as though the Prisoner was rebelling against numbers, in fact he told the Judge as much, “I was rebelling my Lord, I was rebelling against the figures my Lord.” And this once having worked in a bank! Certainly the Prisoner admitted that he’s good at figures. In the past he was known by his code name ZM73, so the Prisoner really should have had no problem being known by a number. So why rebel against being a number in the Village? Perhaps he was afraid of being reduced to nothing more than a statistic! It might be the Prisoner sees numbers as being inhuman, that by being reduced to a number he was somehow being dehumanised. But being a number does not take away the person inside, because it’s what’s inside that matters, that makes you who you are.
It is said by the President that the former Number 6 had survived the ultimate test, that he had survived secure and intact. What kind of person is that? Someone who doesn’t bend, not even a little, but still does not break. Someone who has gone through the ordeal as the former Number 6 had, to come through still strong and unimpaired, what kind of person does that?
The former Number 6 may look physically the man he was, and appears not to have suffered a scratch. But inside, mentally, that may very well be a different matter, although he may not admit it, dare not admit it, especially to himself!
Be seeing you
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