3.0 KiB
Unsong Chapter 53: Lover Of Wild Rebellion
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Author: u/Fredlage *
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URL: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-53-lover-of-wild-rebellion/
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Score: 50
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Created: 2017-01-01T15:08:00
Post:
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, 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) 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.