As Steve W posted, the final chapters of Waterland left me with more questions than answers: 1)What is the significance of Dick's death as the last event in the novel? And did Dick actually die? The reader knows what an excellent swimmer Dick is so it seems unlikely he would actually drown. Perhaps it is possible that he would purposely drown himself, but I think he would subscribe to instinct and save himself. After all, we do not receive an account of time for which Dick was underwater before the "rescuing" party left and again, we know Dick is able to remain underwater for a long period of time. Also, Tom states that Dick is "gone" (357). He never states that he has died or drowned. Just as when he was younger and his father informed him that his mother was "gone" (281), the word suggests that the person has "not ceased absolutely to exist but was somewhere very far away, inaccessible, invisible, yet still there" (283). 2)Is the notion that Dick is the "saviour of the world" connected somehow to Mary's abortion and eventual kidnapping, which she claims is "From God. I got it from God" (265). As we've discussed earlier, the fact that her name is Mary is significant. So, when his mother tells Dick that he is the "saviour of the world," does that mean that he would bring a child into this world who would be the actual saviour ... who was unfortunately destroyed? We never do know for sure who fathered Mary's child. Perhaps the abortion of this "saviour" throws the family's world into tumult. When Mary asserts that she got the kidnapped baby from God, she might be confusing the message with an original one from God when she was 16 years old. Yes, it's a crazy idea, but so is the book. Anything's possible. 3)Steve's pondering over curiosity in the novel is ironic. I, too, questioned the importance of curiosity. Like Steve, I believe it's possible that Mary went mad because of her lack of curiosity (which could also be her abundance of knowledge. To know everything could drive a person mad). But I'm not sure if Tom is mad. His constant search for an explanation is what drives him and drives the world. Consider us. We are searching for an answer to our questions about the novel. I'm not sure, but maybe Tom (Swift) is linking The Fall to curiosity. Had Adam and Eve simply remained curious and neglected to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, man would not be a fallen and sinful creature. Curiosity incites man, but once the curiosity is fulfilled with knowledge, all is lost. Again, just a question. Not an answer. Onto something I do know. We talked in class about not having feelings for the characters. I agreed with Professor Berry that this novel does not allow us to like or dislike the characters. Nor does it provoke us to feel emotions about the situations. As for myself, when I discovered that Edward Atkinson and his daughter loved each other "the way a father and a daughter shouldn't," I understood all about Dick and the purpose of all the history lessons. However, I did not feel anything. That said, I do like one character in the novel: Martha Clay. My tradition of appreciating characters whom others may despise or who seem unattractive to the reader, continues with Martha. As with Rogue Riderhood in Our Mutual Friend, I enjoy her slovenliness and quirkiness as well as the somewhat lurid humor she provides. I also enjoy her honesty. She seems to be one of the only characters who is completely honest (followed, perchance, by Dick and maybe Price). She is a no-nonsense, unaffected (in many senses of the word), and formidable creature who is not only honest with others, but also with herself.