Book and symbolic ship names by maugwai

FIREFLY EPISODE DISCUSSIONS

Book and symbolic ship names

POSTED BY: MAUGWAI
UPDATED: Saturday, July 3, 2004 23:46
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Monday, June 21, 2004 2:30 PM

I know a thread already mentions Book's comment about being on the wrong ship, but I thought about something last night that branched off that a little bit. Forgive if someone has already noticed it. I haven't seen it mentioned.

When Book is looking for a ship to board, the first guy approaches him and offers him a ride. It's not until he mentions the name of the ship, "Brutus", that Book decides against it. He's well read, so he's certainly familiar with Julius Ceasar. I don't think it's the ship that he doesn't like. I think it's the ship's name. Brutus was a traitor.

I was commenting on that when my boyfriend piped up with, "Maybe Book was a traitor, or was betrayed, and that adds to the symbolism." He's very smart.

This would also make sense when he chooses "Serenity" instead. The name sounds peaceful, the perfect place for a holy man. Of course, Serenity is anything but. So he IS on the wrong ship, if he was looking at the symbolism of names.

Any thoughts?

"Dear diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy."

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Monday, June 21, 2004 2:51 PM

DARKJESTER

Hmmmm - good theory Maugwai. I'm not sold on it, but I don't think you're way off-base, either. I'm not sure we'll ever know what Book was thinking at that point (not being described in the script) but I think you could easily be right. I'm just not sure how it could be proved or dis-proved.

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

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Monday, June 21, 2004 3:35 PM

SGTGUMP

I see where you are going with that. Book is pretty up on current events and everything, maybe he chose Serenity because it was the name of the battle where the alliance decidedly won the war and only after being onboard for a while did he learn about the capn' and Zoe's past. Who knows.

By the way, I loved Gizmo.

"The first ten million years were the worst," said Marvin, "and the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million years I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline."

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Monday, June 21, 2004 4:42 PM

JESS

That's something I hadn't thought about before. Whatever the exact details of Book's past are, he must have reaognized Serenity as the name of the battle.

I sort of wonder why Simon didn't. I suppose he could have been fairly focused on his career, but this should have been what everyone in the core was talking about at the time.

[E]Originally posted by sgtgump:
I see where you are going with that. Book is pretty up on current events and everything, maybe he chose Serenity because it was the name of the battle where the alliance decidedly won the war and only after being onboard for a while did he learn about the capn' and Zoe's past. Who knows.

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Monday, June 21, 2004 5:29 PM

SHINYSEVEN

Although the war meant *everything* to Mal and Zoe, it's quite possible that it meant about as little to most people in the Core as, say, a rural uprising in Belize would mean to most Europeans.

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Tuesday, June 22, 2004 5:43 AM

SGTGUMP

Quote:
Originally posted by shinyseven:
Although the war meant *everything* to Mal and Zoe, it's quite possible that it meant about as little to most people in the Core as, say, a rural uprising in Belize would mean to most Europeans.

It's funny you should say Belize and Europeans, "Belize" used to be "British Honduras."

Maybe it's funny to me since I live in Honduras.

"She'd turn you in faster'n you could say 'Don't, turn me in, lady." - Jayne

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Tuesday, June 22, 2004 6:13 AM

EMBERS

Quote:
Originally posted by shinyseven:
Although the war meant *everything* to Mal and Zoe, it's quite possible that it meant about as little to most people in the Core as, say, a rural uprising in Belize would mean to most Europeans.

yeah, I definitely got the idea that Inara cared little or nothing about the war, and Kayley & Jayne seemed pretty ignorant about the details of it...

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Thursday, July 1, 2004 8:47 PM

GORRAMREAVER

I've been through this site a lot lately, but this is my first post. So I figured I could jump into this thread instead of starting another "Who is Book, and What Are His Intentions?" thread.

Anyway, I've been curious about Book thoughout the series, but always thought he'd be a good guy whether he was actually a preacher or not. Until I watched "Objects In Space" again. I've always dismissed it until now, but now I have a different perspective.

In the beginning of the episode, where River is walking around the ship, and you see from her perspective as she is reading the crew's thoughts:

Simon - "I would be there right now."
Inara - "I'm a big girl, just tell me."
Mal - "None of it means a damn thing."
Jayne - "I got stupid. The money was too good."

and Book - "I don't give half a hump whether you're innocent or not. So where does that put you?"

What?!?! If he was reffering to Jayne, that doesn't make sense. I'm sure Book would know that Jayne is not the most innocent of people. If he was reffering to River, what does that mean? So I start thinking that maybe he's a bounty hunter like Early from the same episode. Just preffers to gain people's trust when infiltrating a group to capture a bounty. But no, Book has got to be a good guy.

Later on in the same episode Early quickly takes down book, as you all know. When Simon sees Book unconscious he asks Early if beating up a sheapard was right. Early replies "That's no sheapard." Not as though he looked at Book and guessed that he wasn't but as though he knew for a fact. I know that Early was pretty well prepared before he got on Serenity, so could've known about Book's past. But what if he knew Book more personally? Like colleagues in the same profession.

The only hole in this theory is why he chose to fly on Serenity, since Simon came to the ship after Book. But now I feel weird whenever he speaks. Even something innocent like "Keep her safe," when speaking to Simon about River, now sounds like "Keep my cash cow safe."

But maybe I'm way off. He might also be Simon's personal bodyguard, and just stays in disguise so that no one would suspect him. And in the Serenity episode, he was not actually just looking for a nice ride, because he didn't care about the destination, he was trying to choose a ship that seemed best suited to hide Simon and River. I know how these older model Fireflies tend to have those troublesome nooks. Though, that wouldn't explain the remark in Objects in Space.

Doh!

The legs! Deffinately have to say it was her legs. You can put that down. Her legs and right where her legs meet her back...actually that whole area there...that, and above it.

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Saturday, July 3, 2004 12:17 PM

CLOVIS

It makes sense to me that Book would choose a ship in such a manner - on a name that held promise of something good. He's someone who seems to be escaping or trying to forget a past life that didn't involve much serenity at all (do priests really need marital arts? No, I didn't think so either).

The first person he met, the person who 'tempted' him onto the ship, was Kaylee, and I think it's significant that she's the one person on board who might be descibed as serene. Joss identified Kaylee as the 'heart' of the ship - it's significant also that she tends the ship's engine - its mechanical heart. Of course, Serenity herself (itself?) imparts any measure of peace and security that the crew hope to find, not through herself, but through the trust and affection that the crew build between them.

I love the irony of the ship being called Serenity, in honour of the battle where Mal lost all hope of gaining any. I think that Mal doesn't admit to himself that Serenity could have a double meaning for him, even though the name muset serve as a constant reminder of where his life and the universe took a wrong turn. He strikes me, at least at first, as someone who's given up hope of ever finding any.

Not one of the crew (apart from Kaylee) have any hope of reaching a state of serenity any time soon, either, so it's doubly ironic.

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Saturday, July 3, 2004 2:52 PM

DIGIFICWRITER

Kaylee has FOUND her serenity, ironically on the ship called Serenity. Everybody else is searching for what Kaylee's already found.

Take my love
Take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care
I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me
Take me out to the black
Tell 'em I ain't comin' back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me
There's no place I can be
Since I've found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me

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Saturday, July 3, 2004 10:57 PM

GORRAMREAVER

I don't think naming the ship Serenity was meant to honor the battle that was lost. I think it means, for Mal, that the battle is not over and he will continue to fight. And I think that both Mal and Zoe are completely aware of that.

I also don't think that a man who strives for freedom, loves his crew and will do anything to protect them, is a man who has given up.

The legs! Deffinately have to say it was her legs. You can put that down. Her legs and right where her legs meet her back...actually that whole area there...that and above it.

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Saturday, July 3, 2004 11:46 PM

CLOVIS

Quote:
Originally posted by GorramReaver:

I also don't think that a man who strives for freedom, loves his crew and will do anything to protect them, is a man who has given up.
B]

I suppose what I meant by 'given up' was that he'd given up striving for anything beyond his immediate needs and the next job. I originally saw Firefly on DVD, so the first episode I saw was Serenity. At first you're presented with a man who is bitter and ruthless. Then, of course, the series reveals that it's actually the people on his ship who are the most important thing to him - you realise that if the chips were down, their needs would go before any job.

I wonder if Mal was intended to discovery himself over the course of the series, before the Fox-inspired changes made him more lovable and funny. I did find the change in him between Serenity and the second episode slightly jarring, I have to say.

I don't think that he named the ship to honour the battle, but more as a way of never forgetting the importance of it.

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