The Village!

   In The Village they try to destroy the individual by every means possible, trying to break the spirit so that the citizen will come to accept, respond to, and wear his or her number. To settle down and accept The Village and to live there happily ever after.

   But No.6 is a rebel they cannot break, dare not break, the tissue must not be damaged. They don’t want a man of fragments, as No.6 is far too important, there are other ways and means, extreme measures, but No.6 must not drive No.2 to them. As they do not wish to damage him permanently. They do not wish to spoil him, unless they must.

   But No.6 did settle down to some extent, after all the individual must live, and there was a time when the Prisoner actually admitted that he is No.6, and so early on in his ordeal. It happened during that episode of ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ that the Prisoner actually admitted to Nadia-No.8 as to who he was.

    "No names. I am Number Six, you are Number Eight."

   So the evidence is clear, the Prisoner acknowledged his number so early in the game. But then perhaps that was better for him than to actually give his name away. One wonders why he did not give a name, after all Nadia Rakovski, if that was in fact her real name, told No.6 who she was. The Prisoner could have reciprocated, he could have used the name Peter Smith, which is possibly as false as Nadia's! But really No.6 hardly ever uses, responds to, or accepts his number, and does so only when it suits him. He rarely bends, gives way. His guard is always up. He revolted, resisted, overcame coercion, fought, held fast, maintained his individuality, and destroyed resistance, to be a person, someone, or individual.

   In the end No.6 stands victorious, having vindicated the right of the individual to be individual, and so if they couldn’t beat him, they joined him. He convinced them of their mistakes. No.6 is pure, he knows the way, now he must show them! They conceded, ready to hand over The Village to No.6. Did No.6 really believe it was that simple? Of course not, ‘Fall Out’ was simply a final throw of the dice, the final manipulation of the Prisoner. And yet they must have been running out of ideas so as to face No.6 with himself again! It didn’t work the first time, and it didn’t work the second time. Which resulted in a violent revolution that finally brought The Village down around No.2's ears!

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