In my opinion there are 6 of the Angiers.
In chronological order:
#1 The one who shoots his double.
#2 The one who shoots his double, creates the act, then commits suicide. (my op question)
#3 The one who shoots his double, creates the act, then commits suicide but teleports and lives. Believes that he can drown or live (now it's more a leap of faith than a suicide).
#4 The one who shoots his double, creates the act, then commits suicide but teleports and lives, believes that he can drown or live (now it's more a leap of faith than a suicide), but drowns.
#5 The one who shoots his double, creates the act, then commits suicide but teleports and lives, survives again (thinks there is still a probability to drown).
#6 The one who shoots his double, creates the act, then commits suicide but teleports and lives, survives again (thinks there is still a probability to drown), drowns.
Ummm, where among those six is the Angier who got shot during the first test? And where is the Angier who retired as Lord Caldlow?
Furthermore, #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6 are all continuations of #1. #1 is not different from those other five (apart from the fact that he is a younger version of them).
#1 survives the first test.
#2 and #3 are directly branched from #1 (supposedly during the demonstration before Ackermann).
#4 and #5 are directly branched from #3 (supposedly during the first time Angier performs the trick during a show).
#6 is directly branched from #5 (along with #7, who survives but who isn't included in your list).
From this point forward there are just Angier #5 and #6, the one who will progressively always survive, and the one after progressively getting "lucky" will drown.
Ah, so you regard #7 as equivalent to a case of #5. (Not the same person, but in equivalent position.) And you regard Lord Caldlow as another case of #5 too.
However, the Angier whom you're referring to in your OP question, is a case of #6, not #2. (In your OP, you wrote "
Yet we see him very surprised while drowning inside the tank... as though he wasn't expecting it." The Angier whom we saw drown was an Angier who drowns during a show; and not just "a" show, but his last show, when Borden snuck underneath the stage. So that Angier can't be #2.)
This also explains why he was so surprised drowning in the tank, as every time he gained more confidence that he will live.
Lookup: (reverse) gambler's fallacy. And also: Sword of Damocles.
-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambler's_fallacy#Reverse_fallacy-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DamoclesAngier's statement "
It took courage climbing into the machine every night, not knowing whether I'd be the man in the box, or the Prestige" clearly shows that Angier had not gained more confidence that he'll live every time.
______
Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
http://youtu.be/VI57QHL6ge0
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estocade
8 years ago
Yea I have omitted the first Angier, you can count him too if you like.
The so called Lord what's his name never drowned therefore he is Angier #5, or if you count the one who got shot - #6.
Furthermore, #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6 are all continuations of #1. #1 is not different from those other five (apart from the fact that he is a younger version of them).
They are continuations, but every new Angier is different in a way that he acquires new experiences that in some degree change him, say if we resurrect Angier #1 he will be clueless as to what expect from the future Angier, for all we know he has accepted Buddhism, because of some life-changing event. They are very much alike but the #1 Angier can't be the same as #2.
We cannot know if the killer Angier is a golem of some sorts, an organic robot without a soul but with a "programming" of a human being. We don't know how the machine works, so how can we argue without speculating, there's no scientific theory to explain such phenomena, this is a moot point indeed.
However, the Angier whom you're referring to in your OP question, is a case of #6, not #2. (In your OP, you wrote "Yet we see him very surprised while drowning inside the tank... as though he wasn't expecting it." The Angier whom we saw drown was an Angier who drowns during a show; and not just "a" show, but his last show, when Borden snuck underneath the stage. So that Angier can't be #2.)
Yes in my OP I spoke of Angier #6 i.e. the last Angier to drown, I have now understood his shock, he simply had enough shows behind him to gain good confidence that he will survive, I confess that it took me a while to get it.
#2 is the original suicidee and the rest only share a memory of the relief when they survived, and with every other show there was less relief and more acceptance and even insanity.
Lookup: (reverse) gambler's fallacy. And also: Sword of Damocles.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambler's_fallacy#Reverse_fallacy
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles
I've heard the story of Damocles, are you implying that you can't acquire an illusion of safety? Isn't this a metaphor for our own lives? I mean we forget that tomorrow could be a our last day, yet if we really had had known we wouldn't stop thinking about it for a second. Although obscurity gives us discomfort it also gives us hope.
Angier's statement "It took courage climbing into the machine every night, not knowing whether I'd be the man in the box, or the Prestige" clearly shows that Angier had not gained more confidence that he'll live every time.
I don't know. Maybe he said it out of habit, because he thought it to himself many times before... Sometimes we say things like "oh life is so tough I wish I was dead" but that is absolutely not what we are thinking at that moment, what we are thinking is "I'm tired I need to vent", or "I need to win sympathy or avoid envy".
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