At the beginning of Saturday, McEwan introduces us to Henry Perowne, the main character of the novel. McEwan details Perowne's daily life in the first chapter by providing anecdotes from the hospital and Perowne's own opinions of how he works. At work, Perowne works with precision and confidence, knowing that everything will go smoothly and as planned. He has few mishaps or failures, and knows how to guide junior registrars with a parent-like authority. Yet, in the middle of the first chapter, Perowne is reminded of Scrodinger's cat experiment, but it not convinced that it was actually a thought experiment.
Perowne rejects Schrodinger's cat experiment as a "thought experiment" because "it seems beyond the requirements of proof: a result, a consequence...whatever the score, it's already chalked up" (18). Perowne does not think that this makes any "human sense." He says, though, after the radio reports that the plane has crashed that "Schrodinger's dead cat is alive after all" because it turns out that this event ended with a cat alive and not dead, yet he could only know that after someone opened the box. McEwan uses this image in order to simplify an event and relate it into layman terms so that the audience can understand why Perowne feels a certain way. Yet, it seems odd that Perowne would consider the people on the plane dead when he himself performs countless, perilous procedures every day and does not even question the possibility of failure at all.
Perowne, as a neurosurgeon, performs invasive, risky procedures every day, but does not question the outcome of these events. When relaying the many surgeries he does in a day, he does not once question the possibility that these surgeries could result in death. Don't all his surgeries mimic the cat in the box in a certain way? Two possible outcomes can result from his surgeries: life or death. They are both equally possible, yet Perowne does not even question the latter possibilty. Why is he so quick to assume that the passengers (when it was actually a cargo plane) on the flight have died, when they actually end up surviving without minor injuries? McEwan creates this end to the first part of the novel because it characterizes Perowne as a round character in the early stages of the novel.
Perowne rejects Schrodinger's cat experiment as a "thought experiment" because "it seems beyond the requirements of proof: a result, a consequence...whatever the score, it's already chalked up" (18). Perowne does not think that this makes any "human sense." He says, though, after the radio reports that the plane has crashed that "Schrodinger's dead cat is alive after all" because it turns out that this event ended with a cat alive and not dead, yet he could only know that after someone opened the box. McEwan uses this image in order to simplify an event and relate it into layman terms so that the audience can understand why Perowne feels a certain way. Yet, it seems odd that Perowne would consider the people on the plane dead when he himself performs countless, perilous procedures every day and does not even question the possibility of failure at all.
Perowne, as a neurosurgeon, performs invasive, risky procedures every day, but does not question the outcome of these events. When relaying the many surgeries he does in a day, he does not once question the possibility that these surgeries could result in death. Don't all his surgeries mimic the cat in the box in a certain way? Two possible outcomes can result from his surgeries: life or death. They are both equally possible, yet Perowne does not even question the latter possibilty. Why is he so quick to assume that the passengers (when it was actually a cargo plane) on the flight have died, when they actually end up surviving without minor injuries? McEwan creates this end to the first part of the novel because it characterizes Perowne as a round character in the early stages of the novel.
4 comments:
I appreciate your comments about this section, if not only because they offer a unique perspective on it. I would not have thought to compare Perowne's practice as a surgeon to the Schrödinger's cat experiment.
I would point out, though, that there is a very important difference between Perowne's practice and the burning plane. Though the medicine he practices is especially risky, he has much more control over the outcome of each procedure than he does the outcome of the descending plane; in fact, he has no control over the outcome of the plane crash--the cat in the box. Why then does he not fear events within his life, but fears those without? Especially this one: the fiery plane in the sky.
10/10
PS- did you really have a cat named Schroeder?
Yea, when I was in like, first grade. He ran away.
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