References to the Moon in Paul Austers Moon Palace

References to the moon in Paul Austers Moon Palace * Frequently dealing with the moon * Already at the beginning the moon is mentioned with the first Landing on the moon * page 7 line 1: * â€Å"It was the summer that men first walked on the moon. â€Å" Introduction of the leitmotif; outlines the time in which the story approximately takes place * page 18/ 19: * â€Å"Moonlight Moodsâ€Å";. â€Å"Moon Menâ€Å" * page 38 line 21- 25: * â€Å"†¦ Radiant Diana, I thought†¦ â€Å" Diana is the Roman god of the moon. The male counterpart is Sol(? -omon) who is the god of the sun. * page 39 line 51- 52: â€Å"Perhaps the word moon had changed for me after I saw men wandering about its surface. â€Å" Marco learns that the moon is reachable and so is also his aim (to find his identity). * page 77 line 50 – 53: * â€Å"†¦ they (Kitty`s visits) were natural events, and they carried the same force and inevitability as the weather, the motions of the planets, or the light that came filtering through the window at three o`clock every afternoon †¦ † This means that Kitty`s visits are regularly because the circulation of the planets always happens in the same succession. page 85 line 48 – 50: * † †¦ the point was to accept things as they were, to drift along with the flow of the universe †¦ † This passage is linked to Marco`s life in the parc when he didn`t make any effort to reach something. He only wanted to keep on living just as the planets are rotating without being influenced by any other subject than nature. * page 86 line 29 – 31: * † †¦ within the next ten days or so, I believe I put on eighteen or twenty pounds, and by the end of the month I was beginning to resemble the person I had once been †¦ Marco`s siuation is compared with the moon: After a certain time of change the moon turns into his initial condition. * page 100 line 32- 33: * â€Å"The sun is the past, th e earth is the present, the moon is the future. â€Å" This is a link to Marco`s future. After 9 months when he reads Nicola Tesla`s autobiography he finds the same sentence. * page 139 line 50- 54: * Marco is looking at a picture showing the moon but he isn`t able to recognize the real meaning of the painting immediately. Marco`s life is compared with this. * page 155 line 58- 60: The moon is a sign giving orientation towards Marco`s life. * page 252 line 30- 32: * Sol puts the origins of the Indians having saved John Kepler from death to the moon. * page 255 line 56- 57: * The moon is a symbol of darkness and lunacy but it also reflects a new beginning. The earth around Utah resembles the surface of the moon. * page 302 line 11- 14: * Marco`s real life starts when he is looking at the moon. Now, he has succeeded his quest for identity so he can re- enact how important it is to have a point of orientation in your life. Once Thomas Effing has tried to teach Marco this. Moon Palace: * He lives as homeless person in the central park his rescue through meeting Kitty Wu Moon as a symbol for hope and change * Restaurant Moon Palace a Chinese restaurant; Moon palace as the embodiment of the misconception that Columbus thought America was China * There are three stories in the book and each one is finally the same each generation repeats the same mistakes of the previous generation * Moon Landing at the very beginning: * Marco doesn’t share the enthusiasm of the most American people including the president p5/1 * Apollo project.Marco is critical of the M. L. because it stands for man’s Hybris to break into Gods Sphere * Marco talks about Moon Landings in Literature when he first meets Kitty p50/16 * Moon: * Goddess of love and lunacy p43/5 * Dark image * But also: a kind of new frontier (Columbus-the West-the moon) * Landscape of the moon is similar to the one of the American West p45/1 * moon is a lifeless stone * loneliness just like in the west * Mo on Palace * Esp. The neon sign of a Chinese Restaurant Marco sees from his apartment (once really existed) p. 5/11 * A painting called â€Å"Moonlight† by Ralph Blakelock p162/20 * The moon is above a peaceful scene (Indians/Nature/Frontier) * Associated with harmony between man and nature * Moon stands for constant change which determines Marcos life and future * (see the end of the novel, when Marco stares at the moon * compare Effings view (p182) the moon offers you a direction in Life/Orientation * Solomon Barber & the moon: * In Kepler’s Blood: the people there were born on the moon * Barbers bald head/his face reminds at the moon