We have seen doubles, twins, look-a-likes,
doppelgangers, call them that you like, from the electrician and gardener
onwards. The man who is about to wheel the Penny Farthing bicycle away is
Number 243. A few minutes later we see this man, walking passed the electric’s
truck, as the Prisoner makes his way to the Labour Exchange.
It’s impossible to make out this citizen’s
number, but you will observe that his badge is of the negative kind, rather
than the positive, black not white. Otherwise there is nothing to distinguish
between them, seeing as the two men are dressed identically, and are of the
same physical appearance. So they must be another set of twins. The first case
of twins to be seen in ‘the Prisoner!’ Either that, or they are the same man!
After Number 243 wheels away the Penny
Farthing, he wheels it towards the Gloriette. At one point the bicycle {because
of its pair of stabilising wheels} is left to stand alone and there is no sign
of Number 243. Then a few, moments later as Number 2 gives the Prisoner
directions to the Labour Exchange, the man is standing by the bicycle. Except
its not Number 243, it’s his double with the black badge pinned to his straw
boater!
This man then walks away from the bicycle,
and is the man seen walking passed the electrics truck! If this is not a case
of twins, doppelgangers, or even a simple look-a-like, then both men must be
the same man. As for the change of badge, that could be deliberate, to suggest
that the two men are identical twins. And in being dressed the same, as twins
sometimes often do. The use of a negative and positive Penny Farthing badge is
an easy way to distinguish between the two. Although one would think that a
number would be good enough for that. Other than that, I can only think that
the film extra in having wheeled the Penny Farthing bicycle away, lost the
white badge pinned on his boater, and was replaced by a black one. If that was
the case, then so much for continuity!
Be seeing you
Once again a sign for the many Village strategies to puzzle not only us viewers but the inhabitants as well and here to obfuscate the real number of them. Btw, today, with the use of CGIs, the cloning of single characters or huge masses of people has become a household item. The Village, was a forerunner it may apper. - BCNU!
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteI quite agree, although I should imagine that stratagems are an everyday occurance to the inhabitants of The Village. But some still remain something of a puzzlement to the viewer! And there's the rub with 'the Prisoner,' the deeper one delves, the more it vexes us with its conumdrums! Just how many citizens wear the black numbered badge, and how many wear the white numbered badge. Or as our friend Number 6 would put it, which is which, how many of each?
Its no wonder there appears to be many people living in The Village, so many double as being someone else!
Very best regards
David
BCNU