| Re: Human?
Having reread the book (and practically on the anniversary of the last post here!) I've come up with (either) the idea that Ryan as an individual !doesn't! "exist" - he's simply a living, breathing metaphor for "Authority."
(And/or) Robert cannot kill Ryan because he IS Ryan - A nonentity as far as any records in the world show. Heck, Ryan could even be a metaphor for Rob's attempts to escape from what he is - eventually it will always come back to haunt him.
While there is no evidence per se to demonstrate this, it does tie in with Ryan's ability to find him in another country (Ryan "IS" Robert) and Ryan's inability to explain what Robert is - he doesn't know himself, so he can't give "himself" any answers.
The ending, with Ryan incapacitated but not dead, and Robert alone again against his demons, is essentially a repeat of the START of the book, with Kamal's car replaced with Eddi's motorcycle; He never really accomplished anything, just started everything over again, and still just as clueless. He has SOME answers, and so SOME of Ryan's taskforce is eliminated; aspects of himself that can no longer trouble him (Human emotions, ability to love, flesh and blood, finally found (temporary) contention).
- Still trying to work out where Eddi hid the second pistol! |