The Great Hugo Read discussion

So this has some pretty major spoilers of the ending.

As much as I loved the use of telepathy in the book, the telepathic party games of weaving sentences together, the use of dual protagonists, perhaps my favorite bit of the book was the code book at the beginning and how that was used for the rest of the book.

Early on we see a simple code book for use when talking business transaction (this will probably not format well):

QQBA	PARTNERSHIP
RRCB	BOTH OUR
SSDC	BOTH YOUR
TTED	MERGER
UUFE	INTERESTS
VVGF	INFORMATION
WWHG	ACCEPT OFFER
XXIH	GENERALLY KNOWN
YYJI	SUGGEST
ZZKJ	CONFIDENTIAL
AALK	EQUAL
BBML	CONTRACT

This code is then used to construct a message from Ben Reich to Craye D'Courtney. "Send YYJI TTED RRCB UUFE AALK QQBA." Run back through the code book, Reich is asking "SUGGEST MERGER BOTH OUR INTERESTS EQUAL PARTNERSHIP."

When the reply comes back, it comes back as "WWHG." This sends Reich into a rage.

The phone chimed once and then the automatic switched on. There was a quick chatter and tape began to stutter out of the recorder. Reich strode to the desk and examined it. The message was short and deadly:

CODE TO REICH: REPLY WWHG

"WWHG. 'Offer refused.' Refused! REFUSED! I knew it!" Reich shouted. "All right, D'Courtney. If you won't let it be merger then I'll make it murder."

This insistence that D'Courtney refused the merger offer continues through the book, even though "WWHG" is clearly "ACCEPT OFFER." So for the rest of the book, at least so long as we the reader verified the code, we follow Ben Reich knowing that his basest motivation for murder is wrong. Something is pushing him on, something is keeping him from seeing that "WWHG" is "ACCEPT OFFER."

It's what nearly lets him get away with murder. As the justice of the future is conducted in part by computers, the financial motivation behind the murder is rejected out of hand by the machine. What's interesting is at the same time the true motivation is rejected out of hand by the investigators who are so certain the murder was financially motivated.

I love when a book rewards me for noticing something like this. It was intentionally subtle. Plenty happens between the introduction of the code book and Reich mis-reading the reply, so the reader must flip back a few pages, must do the work of seeing where Reich is wrong. It's not until nearly the end, when his incorrect interpretation is finally noticed, that a lantern is hung on it. At that moment, I decided I absolutely loved this book.

So. Share. Favorite elements? Favorite portions?

I recently joined this group so I'm a bit behind on the reading schedule. I just finished The Demolished Man and I really loved it. Like you, I noticed that WWHG meant ACCEPT OFFER. However, I was just confused and thought that perhaps it was a mistake by the author. When it was revealed that Reich indeed had a deeper motivation, I was both thrilled and relieved.

As compelling as the book is, however, my favorite portion is probably the concluding paragraphs. It would have been easy for Bester to take a pessimistic view of the metaphysics of the universe and argue that Reich's murderous impulses are inherent in human nature and will ultimately lead to our destruction. I was completely thrown when Reich seems to thank Powell with his final words, and then Powell's mental monologue sealed it for me:

Listen, normals! You must learn what it is. You must learn how it is. You must tear the barriers down. You must tear the veils away. We see the truth you cannot see... That there is nothing in man but love and faith, courage and kindness, generosity and sacrifice. All else is only the barrier of your blindness. One day we'll all be mind to mind and heart to heart...