I've been thinking about the name Quasar. The character chose this name and I would like to understand why. A quasar is located at the center of large galaxies in the area surrounding a super massive black hole. It is characterized by an active accretion disk which feeds the black hole; as such it spits out an enormous amount of energy, sometimes more than whole galaxies. Quasars are also defined by their distance, they are the most distant objects we have detected in the known universe which means they are also some of the oldest objects we have ever seen. So why would such a name be chosen by this member of a terrorist sect?
Perhaps it is because of the imagery of brightness. Quasars emit energetic beams of radiation from their poles and this radiation is so bright that despite their relatively small size they are incredibly easy to spot. So this leads me to think that Mitchell was playing around with the reader, making them imagine a bright celestial body while also foreshadowing the comet that appears at the end of the novel. So the name here is a link, another piece of the global chain that connects all of these characters. But beyond the natural implications of the name it removes his connection to the ideologies of the impure world around him., He is no longer Keisuke Tanaka but Quasar, an elemental force as old as the universe. He is attempting to remove himself from the global sphere that held sway over him. Perhaps Quasar is running from the global. But in this scenario is that possible? Can one ever escape the globalized society?
Interestingly I noticed this passage in the Tokyo section - this is Satoru when he first sees Tomoyo:
ReplyDelete"Four high school girls came in, but one of them was completely, completely different. She pulsed, invisibly, like a quasar" (Mitchell 41).
Obviously Mitchell did this intentionally and Quasar connects to this chapter when he calls the record store. I wonder if both references are due to the distance reference? Quasar feels distant from everyone else on Earth, while Satoru feels Tomoyo is distant from himself. He doesn't even reach out to talk to her due when he sees her for the first time. Characterizing Tomoyo as like a quasar certainly can allude to the brightness factor. She was the focus and light in the store for Satoru. Is Quasar that energy amongst the black hole of the people on Earth?
I'm glad you brought this up because I had forgotten I noticed this, and reading about what quasars actually are made me think more about it. I really like your connecting this with the comet as well as Quasar removing himself from the "impure world".
I was wondering if the brightness of the quasar represents the leader of the Fellowship, His Serendipity (8)? Quasar Kneels before him and is "permitted [...] to kiss His holy ruby ring," much as one would the pope or a bishop. A bit later, "[t]hen He kissed me, and I kissed the mouth of eternal life" (9). Quasar capitalizes the pronouns when referring to His Serendipity, much the same as one might do in referencing a deity. Is his reference to "eternal life" much like Christian theology? Quasar talks about the people not in the Fellowship as "unclean(sed)" (6,10) and "poor animals" (6), further elevating the Fellowship and their leader.
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There is yet another reference to a quasar."All minds pulse in a unique way, just as every lighthouse in the world has a unique signature. Some minds pulse consistently ,some erratically. Some are lukewarm, some are hot. Some flare out, some are very nearly not there, Some stay on the fringe, like quasars" (p. 154). This is the section narrated by the noncorpum. I think the quasar is a metaphor for all the narrators in the novel. They all feel isolated, on the edges of their societies, like a quasar is isolated so far out. However, they are deeply connected in so many ways, just like quasars, for black holes draw all things to themselves. Therefore, in essence, quasars are connected ultimately to all things
ReplyDelete...or the idea of the Quasar and that of the Zookeeper come full circle--referencing and then inhabiting beings with broad reach and power.
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