General Discussions

Theory on Book

POSTED BY: Calhoun
UPDATED: Saturday, March 6, 2004 17:21
VIEWED: 5054
PAGE 2 of 2

WHOODAHN

Friday, March 5, 2004 10:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Talonpest:
I don't think he was a general. His line in Objects in Space, "I don't give half a hump if you're innocent or not. Now where does that leave you?" indicates that he was more of a judge/jurry/executioner kind of guy. Also his knowledge of people like Niska and the carrion house aren't something a general would be dealing with. I'm thinking Gestapo style secret police.

His familiarity with Shun-Yu in War Stories makes me think he was an interrogator.

BENSHAHN

Friday, March 5, 2004 10:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Duke:
Quote:
Originally posted by ReyvnDarKnight:
I would even go so far as to say that if you remember, Book seemed to be looking specifically for a certain ship in the pilot episode. Maybe Book is aware of Mal's history at the Battle of Serenity and he is seeking to serve out a personal form of penance by looking for Mal.

Actually, this can't be the case. He tells Inara, "I think I got on the wrong ship." He would not have said this if he had been looking for Serenity and Mal. If you look at the pilot you will see that he is not interested in Serenity until he hears her name. This probably interests him because of his connection to Serenity Valley. His only relationship to Mal is a literary one( a parallelism.See my previous post).

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SHINY

Friday, March 5, 2004 10:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by benshahn:
[p]Now hears the interesting bit. In terms of the story, Book and Mal are parallel characters. Both have experienced the same or similar things but have reacted in different ways. Mal's response is to retreat from religion, Book response is to retreat into religion.[/p]
[p]Now here's an even more interesting bit. What would you call someone from an earlier time and circumstance who lost their purpose? You might call them "dinosaurs". Wash's dinosaurs might be an allegory illustrating the above. A land that will be your grave, sudden but inevitable betrayal, and at the end, one dinosaur denies god (No god) and the other appeals to god(Dear God in Heaven), these could represent the Battle of Serenity, Mal, and Book. Ok, this might be a stretch but it's a comfortable one.[/p]

Brilliant! I'm not sayin' it's necessarily correct, but it's brilliant nonetheless! Mal-Dino: "No God!"...Book-Dino: "Dear God in Heaven" -- I love it! (I should also point out for those who have reviewed the DVD extras, that Book, or rather Ron Glass, DOES have a pretty evil laugh!

)

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

SHINY

Friday, March 5, 2004 11:42 PM

Now that I think about it though...weren't "no god" and "dear god in heaven" 'spoken' by the SAME dinosaur? (the one the T-rex was attacking?)

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

BENSHAHN

Saturday, March 6, 2004 8:44 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Shiny:
Now that I think about it though...weren't "no god" and "dear god in heaven" 'spoken' by the SAME dinosaur? (the one the T-rex was attacking?)

Nope. It happens quickly but if you go back and look you'll see this: The T-rex attacks the stegosaurus, the stegosaurus says "No god". It then attacks the T-rex which then says "Oh, Dear God in Heaven". The stegosaurus attack is a much smaller movement as the toys are close together at this point.

CALHOUN

Saturday, March 6, 2004 12:56 PM

Thats just silly!

Stegosaurus are herbavores(unsure of spelling)..........they would just roll over and play dead.

RANGER

Saturday, March 6, 2004 4:06 PM

I think the theory that Book was an important actor in the Alliance before he became Book runs against the premis of the show (this isn't about the people who made history, it's about the people history stepped on). With that in mind, I think Book was probably a cog in the Alliance machine rather than a significant figure. He probably was very good at his job and widely respected by his peers, but that doesn't mean nessessarally he was a commanding general.

Traveller, if you go to Sparta, tell them you have seen us lying here as the Law commands.

CHRISTHECYNIC

Saturday, March 6, 2004 4:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ranger:
I think the theory that Book was an important actor in the Alliance before he became Book runs against the premis of the show (this isn't about the people who made history, it's about the people history stepped on).

What if Book went from being a maker to being stepped on? It still fits (he is no longer a history maker), and it makes and interesting character since he willingly got under history's feet.

SHINY

Saturday, March 6, 2004 5:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by benshahn:
Quote:
Originally posted by Shiny:
Now that I think about it though...weren't "no god" and "dear god in heaven" 'spoken' by the SAME dinosaur? (the one the T-rex was attacking?)

Nope. It happens quickly but if you go back and look you'll see this: The T-rex attacks the stegosaurus, the stegosaurus says "No god". It then attacks the T-rex which then says "Oh, Dear God in Heaven". The stegosaurus attack is a much smaller movement as the toys are close together at this point.

But why would the T-rex cry out "dear god in heaven!" while he is devouring the stegosaurus? It sounds like something someone getting eaten would say as opposed to someone doing the eating (unless you think the T-rex is saying grace or somethin'...)

(plus if you go back and re-watch it, he uses the steg voice for both 'no god' and 'dear god in heaven' while in between the two uses the different T-rex voice to do some 'ARRGGG!'s)

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

LEAFY

Saturday, March 6, 2004 5:21 PM

I think Book was more like a professor, a teacher for the Alliance, something like that. He knows something so hugely incriminating about the Alliance, and one of those "If I die this will all be made public" things, so everybody has been ordered to treat him very gently. Whatever it is, they made him quit teaching, and he went to study to be a Shepherd.