The truth about Phaedrus

In the seventh chapter, Pirsig reveals the much debated truth about Phaedrus, who he is and where he comes from. As it turns out, Phaedrus and the main character are the same physical person but different spirits. My assumption is that Phaedrus who is the first spirit to occupy the body was a regular person who developed some sort of psychological disorder that escalated until he became a whole other personality. Another possibility, is that Phaedrus suffered some type of trauma that caused him to take protective measures to psychologically protect himself from whatever event that caused was caused by the trauma. I do not think that Phaedrus is the original personality’s real name, I think that the narrator knows some of what is happening or has happened with his past and that is why he names his alternate personality. The nnarator is slowly finding things out about himself and his past. He gets random images of Phaedrus these to me represent a symptom of the physiological disorder that he experiences. Phaedrus is what is left of his old personality after the switch. 

I am convinced that many of the narrator’s inquiries into Phaedrus and who he is/was are his way of finding himself and coming to terms with his disorder. I do not agree with the narrator that Chris has a mental disorder, I think he is simply an immature boy who does not yet know how to overcome hardships without complaining. I see the narrator’s prediction of Chris’ mental illness as a projection of his own problems onto his son. The narrator’s disorder has not affected his passions, or other human carachteristics, for example, in the novel it is evident that he is genuinely passionate about motorcycles. I predict that Pirsig will in some way tie together the concept of Phaedrus and Motorcycle maintenance but I cannot yet see how this will be done.