Jacky
shall have a new master;
Jacky
shall earn but a penny a day,
Because
he can't work any faster”
{The name Jacky being a replacement for Johnny}
{The name Jacky being a replacement for Johnny}
The See-Saw is the oldest children’s ride,
which has been developed for a totally different use by Village technicians. In
the Control Room on the See-Saw, two Observers sit at either end of the device
watching the monitors before them. The duration time for someone being able to
monitor screens is about twenty minutes, after that the observer begins to fail
to notice what is taking place on the screen. It is possible that the simple "up
and down, back and forth" movement helps prolong the duration time of the two
Observers attention to their monitors.
Yet in
the deeper underworld of The Village, in that dark and dank cavern of ‘Fall
Out,’ this See-Saw device is put to a more obscene purpose. Then it is fitted
with a heavy machine gun at either end, that it should protect the community,
as the President would have it. The regrettable bullet! Its purpose in the underworld, is to maintain
security during the trial of three rebels! And yet when bloody and violent
revolution does break out, the effect of the two machine guns of the See-Saw is
negligible. Because there is a limit to the guns depression!
In The Village a Child’s innocent toy is
employed to prolong Observers observational duration. Some might interpret it
as evolving into a symbol of the unfair rise and fall of power, and ultimately
becomes a symbol of war, rendering both death and destruction.
Be seeing you
That's a remarkable thing about the see-saw. To me, initially, it was some visual gadget, for the eye only without any visible purpose, just fitting in the spherical control room, yes. Because, how could somebody ever sit on top of it while it's spinning round thereby staring through a binocular microscope or something and not feeling dizzy. Only as a side remark, read the lyrics of the Moody Blues song "Ride My See-saw" from 1968. Not that I would pretend it's to do with The Prisoner, though. To quote one bit of it: "But by now, I know I should have run./ Run, run my last race, / Take my place / Have this number /
ReplyDeleteOf mine... Taken out of context, I know, it looks more significant than it really is. But, well... it's worthwhile. - BCNU!
Hello Arno,
DeleteI agree, the see-saw device is a visual gadget, and it does help fill up the floor of the Control Room, without which it would have a very spartan look about it. I had not considered the possibility of the "dizziness effect" of riding the See-Saw, this could not be resolved unless time was spent in actually ridng the device for an hour say. It wouldn't be so bad if the See-saw only went up and down, but this one gives the added motion of going round and round at the same time! Wonder who thought that one up? Probably someone in the Properties department.
The Moody Blues song "Ride My See-Saw" sounds apt for 'the Prisoner,' and well worthy of the thought.
Very kind regards
David
BCNU