When
asked about the identity of the Prisoner-No.6, Patrick McGoohan defined him as
being “Everyman,” and so in turn enthusiasts for the Prisoner took that to mean
No.6 is absolutely anyone. However the definition of the word Everyman is “An ordinary
or typical human being,” however when it comes to No.6 he could hardly be
described as an ordinary typical human being. After all how many men can boast being
endowed with all the following number of skills?
Ability to pilot a helicopter.
His Mechanical skills being as such that he
built his own Lotus 7 kit car.
His wood working skills are such that he
could make his own woodworking tools, carve out a boat’s hull out of a tree
trunk, and to build a sea-going raft.
He made his own compass using a jar, a
piece of cork, and a magnetic needle.
Constructed a Triquetrum an ancient astrological device out of wood during the first cut of ‘The Chimes of Big Ben,’ if we can count that, I think we can.
Constructed a Triquetrum an ancient astrological device out of wood during the first cut of ‘The Chimes of Big Ben,’ if we can count that, I think we can.
His navigational skills are second to none.
Has a strong survival instinct.
He enjoyed a classical education
He enjoyed a classical education
Enjoys a strong sense of identity.
He has a well developed mind and mental
strength.
Works with codes and ciphers.
Physically he is well developed, athletic, strong, and agile, able to take care of himself in a fair fight.
Water skiing.
He excels as Kosho.
Physically he is well developed, athletic, strong, and agile, able to take care of himself in a fair fight.
Water skiing.
He excels as Kosho.
Has boxing skills, and is an ex-Olympian,
having once been on an Olympic fencing team. Shooting he has a skill rate of
90%.
He built his own private gymnasium in the woods, and demonstrated his sewing skills my stitching together a punch bag from odd pieces of material.
Quick-witted, has the ability to think quickly on his feet.
He built his own private gymnasium in the woods, and demonstrated his sewing skills my stitching together a punch bag from odd pieces of material.
Quick-witted, has the ability to think quickly on his feet.
He can also spin a good yarn, as three
Village children as well as No.2 can confirm!
Being of an artistic bent he created his own piece of abstract art, and makes a decent cartographer, such are his drawing skills.
He is domesticated.
Plays chess, games often ending in a 7 or 11 checkmate win by No.6.
Being of an artistic bent he created his own piece of abstract art, and makes a decent cartographer, such are his drawing skills.
He is domesticated.
Plays chess, games often ending in a 7 or 11 checkmate win by No.6.
Has a working knowledge of rocket science.
If I have left anything out perhaps the
reader would be kind enough as add them in a comment.
The above talents, skills, and expertise all of which can be learned of course, but put them all together in such a man as No.6 and what have you got? An “extraordinary man!”
The above talents, skills, and expertise all of which can be learned of course, but put them all together in such a man as No.6 and what have you got? An “extraordinary man!”
Be seeing you
The Prisoner can also be seen as representing an "Everyman" in that any one of us may wish he or she could simply opt out of at least some aspects of a society which has pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered.
ReplyDeleteIn the intros to most of the Episodes, The Prisoner asks "Whose side are you on?" He gets only a deflecting equivocal answer: "That would be telling. We want information ... information ... information."
Whichever side they are on, they need to know whether The Prisoner is on their side or not.
Correspondingly, The Prisoner needs to know which side they are on. He can't be certain which side had kidnapped him, since both sides could and would do it. He questions whether his side really is different from the other side.
Question:
Why did he resign?
My answer #1:
Because "for a long time" The Prisoner's view was that both sides could and would do the same disturbing things. He states that he would not be "pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered". In short he resigned because he wanted to get away from BOTH sides. It's a case of "Six of one and half a dozen of the other." Of course, neither side could ever risk trusting that this is a genuine answer.
My answer #2:
That would be telling ...
Hello 42,
DeleteThat’s right, “Everyman” who wants to opt out, after all if one can’t chuck up a job things have come to a pretty pass! I myself chucked up two jobs, but for different reasons than having been pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. Now I opted out a long time ago, and am my own boss and that gives me peace of mind.
Depending on who abducted the Prisoner to The Village any information he has will either be protected or extracted. And of course Number 6 isn’t sure which side runs The Village, it has to be one side or another, or possibly a third side might be considered!
Why did the Prisoner resign? I think that depends on who the Prisoner is in the first place. If he’s a former secret agent having worked for British Military Intelligence, he may well be burned out. Sometimes being forced to do things which his conscience wasn’t happy with, as with John Drake, perhaps during the opening sequence symbolically it’s John Drake handing in his letter of resignation. Or symbolically again it might be Patrick McGoohan handing in his resignation from ‘Danger Man’ to Lew Grade.
Or then again as why did Number 6 resign, its as he told Number 2 in ‘Once Upon A Time,’ he resigned for peace, for peace of mind, because too many people know too much!
Best regards
David
Be seeing you
Information: I've lately taken to posting, elsewhere, reduced versions of my posts.
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ReplyDeleteThis site remains my go to!
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