## Unsong Chapter 53: Lover Of Wild Rebellion

* Author: u/Fredlage *
* URL: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-53-lover-of-wild-rebellion/
* Score: 50

* Created: 2017-01-01T15:08:00

### Post:

[Link to content](http://unsongbook.com/chapter-53-lover-of-wild-rebellion/)

### Comments:

> **u/Fredlage** [+19]  (2 hours later)
> 
> Here's hoping Dylan's plan goes hilariously wrong due to Malia's ability to see invisible people.

> **u/MonstrousBird** [+8]  (2 hours later)
> 
> Has anyone made anything of Malia Ngo's name yet? Or indeed ideas on what she is? All I got is an anagram of Magnolia, or if we go with the I am format like with Erica we could say I am Anglo, or Logan.

>> **u/fubo** [+12]  (3 hours later)
>> 
>> Magnolia is the state tree of Mississippi, which is stereotypically the worst state in various measures (e.g. education, poverty, health).
>> 
>> It is more generally associated with the South, sometimes in the context of that region's history of racial violence, as in the song "Strange Fruit": "Pastoral scene of the gallant south / The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth /  Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh / Then the sudden smell of burning flesh."
>> 
>> The magnolia is also a symbol of North Korea, which is stereotypically the worst nation.
>> 
>> The film *Magnolia* includes a rain of frogs, which is a Biblical plague.
>> 
>> The title of the play *Steel Magnolias* describes tough Southern women.
>> 
>> The Grateful Dead song "Sugar Magnolia" is a love song about a woman who (among other things) covers for her man's irresponsibility: "Takes the wheel when I'm seeing double / Pays my ticket when I speed".

>>> **u/ZeroNihilist** [+5]  (15 hours later)
>>> 
>>> The magnolia genus is named after [Pierre Magnol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Magnol), one of the botanists responsible for "the botanical scheme of classification". Magnol was a Calvinist who later converted to Catholicism.
>>> 
>>> The "Five points of Calvinism" can be memorised using the mnemonic "TULIP" (another flower, which is not a coincidence because nothing is ever a coincidence):
>>> 
>>> * Total Depravity - no man is able to not sin
>>> * Unconditional Election - God chooses to save some people unconditionally
>>> * Limited Atonement - Jesus didn't die for the whole world, just those chosen few
>>> * Irresistable Grace - if somebody is saved, they cannot resist redemption
>>> * Perseverance of the Saints - if somebody does not persevere with their faith, they were never truly saved
>>> 
>>> From this we derive a correspondence between people with flower names and classifying things according to their deeper nature.

>> **u/Escapement** [+8]  *Ankh-Morpork City Watch* (3 hours later)
>> 
>> Speaking of names, I fucking love the Deas IRA ([Dies Irae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dies_Irae)) pun.

>> **u/waylandertheslayer** [+3]  (8 hours later)
>> 
>> I think it was pointed out in the story that she works for the UN, and her surname is NGO (=non-governmental organisation).

>> **u/wren42** [+3]  (13 hours later)
>> 
>> Mal is evil.
>> No go. 
>> 
>> Plan will fail.

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