ABSTRACT
Frank’s final chapter in The journey west is composed around a spiral motif where events keep looping back, repeating with subtle variation. Frank’s design is influenced by Godel, Nietzsche and Pythagoras’ treatment of the ancient concept of Eternal Recurrence.
The chapter begins with a real-life recurrence: Frank’s wife, Signe, is diagnosed with cancer; in a year it will be metastatic. First his son, then his mother, now his wife. In ten years, cancer claims all three.
Nigel encounters a succession of characters, Raymond, Graf, Page, Distanziert and Foo, slipping in-and-out of dreamlike experiences always returning to Distanziert’s house in Woodstock. Distanziert’s home is the source of scientific observation of the creation of a new universe. Distanziert orchestrates a series of chemically-induced psychological regressions in which Nigel re-experiences his and other characters’ lives. In dreams within dreams, one character’s past slips into another character’s present. Ultimately, Distanziert provides Nigel with a diagnosis: Dissociative Identity Disorder.
The story ends when a Norwegian pine crashes to earth. Nigel joins his deceased son climbing aboard a barge. Nigel asks, “Is this a dream? Will I wake-up dead?” His son smiles, “Welcome home, Dad.” Letting it all go, they depart on their journey west.
