Moby Dick
Dollman: “Moby-Dick”, or, The Whale seems to be one of Tarman’s favorite novels. As the name suggests, it’s a story about a white sperm whale named Moby Dick. Captain Ahab, one of the main characters, uses a prosthetic leg made of whalebone to replace the one Moby Dick took long ago. He’s obsessed with getting revenge against the whale, which he hates with a terrible passion, all while nursing the phantom pain of his lost leg. In the end, Ahab fails to exact vengeance on his foe, and is dragged into the sea. His crew’s only survivor is Ishmael, the book’s narrator. He was rescued after clinging desperately to a coffin-shaped lifebuoy. That’s right – a coffin was his savior. Ironic, isn’t it? How you use a thing makes all the difference.
Dollman: The Pequod is the ship in which Ahab pursues Moby Dick on his quest for vengeance. His crew includes Dutchmen, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Portugues, Icelanders, as well as shipmates from China and India. Countless other people of myriad origins, too. It is arguably symbolic of the multi-racial United States. A gathering of souls that transcends ethnic and national divisions, united in pursuit of a singular goal. I can’t help but be reminded of Kojima Productions… Wait – judging by your reaction, you’ve never heard of Kojima Productions? Sam, you can’t be serious!
Dollman: Certain parallels can be drawn between Captain Ahab’s pursuit and the Prometheus myth. Prometheus is a deity said to have stolen fire from the heavens in order to give it to humans. In essence, he bestowed upon them the power of the gods themselves. This power manifested as technology. Humans crafted tools, and with them brought nature to heel and built great civilizations. Perhaps the author intended to frame Ahab’s pursuit of the white whale as one akin to mankind’s struggle against the forces of nature. We ourselves are arguably living out our own Prometheus myth as we fight to overcome the Death Stranding. No – we definitely are! And we’re not about to lose!
Frankenstein
Dollman: On a dark night in May 1816, three men and two women found themselves confined to a villa on the shore of Lake Geneva. A catastrophic volcanic eruption had wrought havoc on the global climate, and a relentless rain hammered down outside. With little else to do, the occupants of the villa decided to compose ghost stories, and it was on this fateful night that a woman named Mary penned what would become Frankenstein. Mary, who was only eighteen years of age, had already lived a tumultuous life. She was engaged in an affair with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley at the time, whom she would later go on to marry. A dramatic retelling of these events was committed to film prior to the Death Stranding. Titled Mary Shelley, it stars Elle Fanning in the lead role. Now where have I heard that name before…?
Dollman: The gathering of storytellers that spawned Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein gave rise to yet another legendary creature of horror fiction. I speak, of course, of the vampire. A physician named Polidori was also in attendance that evening, and he later unveiled his creation in a new novel. As I may have mentioned before, the summer of that year was unusually cold. In Europe alone, 200,000 people are said to have perished as a result. Could it be that a widespread fear that the world might be coming to an end served as inspiration for two classic monsters? I find it a compelling theory.
Dollman: It should be noted that the monster’s name is not Frankenstein, nor was it ever given a proper name. Frankenstein is the name of its creator and the story’s protagonist: Victor Frankenstein. Through its many movie adaptations, the image of the disturbing and unstable patchwork creature has grown ever more vivid, and in the process the misconception that it was called “Frankenstein” was born. In the original novel, however, it was an intelligent, human-like being that craved acceptance. A clever, gentle giant cobbled together from others. Not unlike our Deadman, don’t you think? And while he doesn’t appear in Shelley’s original work, in several movies Frankenstein is joined by a rather memorable assistant named Igor. Igor and Victor. Now where have I heard those two names before? Hmmm…
Voyage of the Beagle
Dollman: The Voyage of the Beagle—written, of course, by one Charles Darwin. Speaking of which, before the Death Stranding, there was a city in the northern part of Australia called Darwin, named as such after the Beagle made a brief stop there. Darwin was able to devote so much time and effort to his research of evolution because he enjoyed the support of the elite—specifically the Wedgwood family, pottery makers to the royal household. In fact, Darwin’s maternal grandfather was the founder of Wedgwood. You can’t get a better patron than that, now can you? I suppose if you think about it, Wedgwood was to Darwin as Charlie is to us.
Dollman: Apparently, Darwin always had a strong interest in geology. He was fascinated by the way continents and landforms change, leading to the creation of new habitats for organisms. This led him to surmise that organisms adapted to their new environments in order to thrive. And that logic eventually became the basis of his theory of evolution. The world around us continues to change even now. The continents are in flux due to the shifting tar currents and the emergence of plate gates. Is it possible these changes might also spur life to develop and adapt in unforeseen ways?
Dollman: Oh, ready that one again, are we? It must be quite the page turner. The HMS Beagle, which was instrumental in Darwin’s development of his theory of evolution, eventually came to symbolize adventurers and explorers of new worlds. Spaceships in science fiction novels would bear the name, as well as actual ships developed in real life. You know, Sam, when our Australian journey is finally complete, we could ask Charlie to build us our own personal vessel. Yes, we should—let’s do that. It’ll be fun. It goes without saying that we’ll have to call it the Beagle. Oh and, and you must let me be the captain, alright? I won’t budge on this—I refuse!