The Comfy Chair

Thank you!

And wow back: I never thought of the *threat* to Atlantis as the driving feature, but someone else made a similar comment that kind of resonates, that it's not shame but common sense that makes Rodney not publish.

The only problem I have with that reading is that there is no reason to not have that secret be *collective* rather than private, i.e,., why would Rodney shun his friends who share that knowledge? [Then again, we've seen enough stories that outline what harm a shared secret can cause to suggest that it might be prudent to do it alone...] Still, your reading takes all agency away from Rodney in that he is "harmed" by these two threats/murders (and how appropriate to have the US mirror the wraith in that reading :-) without having done anything himself...

I agree that accepting the death of Atlantis leads toward the future and his publishing and making new connewctions and reviving the old...but Im' not sure it's the government plans that are at the center of his psyche...b/c it's easy to deal with something outside of you in ways the fears and guilt within is much harder to address...