After Phaedrus' quick mention, he was not brought up again until now. His "return" has answered questions about him. The main character says that he sees Phaedrus out of the corner of his eyes and he describes him as an evil spirit. This proved my initial belief that Phaedrus was not actually a ghost wrong. Despite thinking that I would be upset if Phaedrus was a ghost, I am intrigued by it.
The way that the main character describes Phaedrus makes me wonder if he told Chris that ghosts were not real because he was so haunted by his own ghost. I think that he is so terrified by Phaedrus that he does not want to admit to Chris that they are real. He fabricated this lie in order to protect his son from the fear that he has to live in. Despite having an almost complete confirmation that Phaedrus is a ghost, I am sill slightly unsure of what his role in the story is. I do not know if Phaedrus is the one that has been feeding the main character these "new ideas" that he has, or if Phaedrus is a figment of his imagination caused by some troubled past.
This chapter also brings the revelation of Chris' mental state. I liked how Pirsig chose to reveal Chris' ill mental state so discretely. Instead of having him behave as a stereotypical loon, he did it so slightly that I did not even realize. The revelation of Chris having a mental illness intrigues me because I want to know what caused it, if he was born with it, how he lives everyday with it, etc. I enjoy the fact that the author chose to reveal so little about it because it makes me want to read more.
- Talia Akerman
- Talia Akerman
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