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Gary in the black line seem more of a pathetic broken man with permanent damage on his physical and mental health. I thought perharps he is driven to show his ability by means of revenge.
What would you say drives Gary to stabbing Michelle; is it the humiliation he felt in her rejection? Is it perharps his mental health? Is it another hidden part of him? Or is it downright hatred? Or maybe something else entirely?

yomide wrote: ↑09 Jul 2021, 17:04 Gary in the black line seem more of a pathetic broken man with permanent damage on his physical and mental health. I thought perharps he is driven to show his ability by means of revenge.
What would you say drives Gary to stabbing Michelle; is it the humiliation he felt in her rejection? Is it perharps his mental health? Is it another hidden part of him? Or is it downright hatred? Or maybe something else entirely?

I believe it's humiliation that he underwent due to MIchelle's refusal. He definitely wanted to take his revenge over her. In my opinion, Gary from the black line represents the dark side of human soul overall. But we still should take into consideration that he honestly thought it was just a dream when he stubbed Michelle.

yomide wrote: ↑09 Jul 2021, 17:04 Gary in the black line seem more of a pathetic broken man with permanent damage on his physical and mental health. I thought perharps he is driven to show his ability by means of revenge.
What would you say drives Gary to stabbing Michelle; is it the humiliation he felt in her rejection? Is it perharps his mental health? Is it another hidden part of him? Or is it downright hatred? Or maybe something else entirely?

I did not think of Gary as pathetic or broken because of his physical and mental health. I think I see a person who was determined to live. For a person with few friends, it takes a lot of determination to keep going. I think the questions are excellent. I think he may have also been motivated by the fact that he was frustrated about his ill-health. He wanted someone else to feel the pain of his own circumstances by putting them in a similar position.

yomide wrote: ↑09 Jul 2021, 17:04 Gary in the black line seem more of a pathetic broken man with permanent damage on his physical and mental health. I thought perharps he is driven to show his ability by means of revenge.
What would you say drives Gary to stabbing Michelle; is it the humiliation he felt in her rejection? Is it perharps his mental health? Is it another hidden part of him? Or is it downright hatred? Or maybe something else entirely?

Perhaps it really was downright hatred. But it can also be a mental problem.
Gary from the blackline seems like a very strange guy to me. Of course, he had huge health problems. But he could take care of himself (for example, he could dress himself, wash, etc.), he could walk, he could make love, and even play games for hours on end. He was not really a helpless cripple.
Then why couldn't he become like Gary from the other line? He could find himself a job that did not require physical exertion. He could continue his education like the other Gary did. His physical problems would not have prevented him from becoming a great scientist, businessman or artist. For him, only a military and sport’s career was closed. However, he doesn't try to do anything, he just plays games and says nasty things to his family members. No wonder his fantasies are so strange and violent.

yomide wrote: ↑09 Jul 2021, 17:04 Gary in the black line seem more of a pathetic broken man with permanent damage on his physical and mental health. I thought perharps he is driven to show his ability by means of revenge.
What would you say drives Gary to stabbing Michelle; is it the humiliation he felt in her rejection? Is it perharps his mental health? Is it another hidden part of him? Or is it downright hatred? Or maybe something else entirely?

It might be more connected to the general reflection about human nature. How many of us would do something despicable if we were sure there would be no consequences? I think this is what the author wanted to show. We all have the dark side. But usually, we're able to control it out of fear or simply because we're good enough people to not want to actually hurt others. And in everyday life hardly ever can we avoid punishment for our actions.
This Gary was sure there would be no consequence of his actions. Otherwise, I think, he would not do that.

Anna Bookowski wrote: ↑11 Jul 2021, 07:35

yomide wrote: ↑09 Jul 2021, 17:04 Gary in the black line seem more of a pathetic broken man with permanent damage on his physical and mental health. I thought perharps he is driven to show his ability by means of revenge.
What would you say drives Gary to stabbing Michelle; is it the humiliation he felt in her rejection? Is it perharps his mental health? Is it another hidden part of him? Or is it downright hatred? Or maybe something else entirely?

It might be more connected to the general reflection about human nature. How many of us would do something despicable if we were sure there would be no consequences? I think this is what the author wanted to show. We all have the dark side. But usually, we're able to control it out of fear or simply because we're good enough people to not want to actually hurt others. And in everyday life hardly ever can we avoid punishment for our actions.
This Gary was sure there would be no consequence of his actions. Otherwise, I think, he would not do that.

That's...very correct. The author specified Gary thinking of there being no consequences if he actually hurt Michelle in a lucid dream. Gary seem to have done that mainly because of that. There will be no one to answer to, there will be no one to punish him, no questions asked, he will get to go away with it.

Black line Gary is filled with bitterness for his awful predicament and position in life. Its sort of the way some disabled people resent other more able bodied people and wish they could switch places with him and on that day he was filled with resentment and bitterness.

yomide wrote: ↑11 Jul 2021, 17:24

Anna Bookowski wrote: ↑11 Jul 2021, 07:35

yomide wrote: ↑09 Jul 2021, 17:04 Gary in the black line seem more of a pathetic broken man with permanent damage on his physical and mental health. I thought perharps he is driven to show his ability by means of revenge.
What would you say drives Gary to stabbing Michelle; is it the humiliation he felt in her rejection? Is it perharps his mental health? Is it another hidden part of him? Or is it downright hatred? Or maybe something else entirely?

It might be more connected to the general reflection about human nature. How many of us would do something despicable if we were sure there would be no consequences? I think this is what the author wanted to show. We all have the dark side. But usually, we're able to control it out of fear or simply because we're good enough people to not want to actually hurt others. And in everyday life hardly ever can we avoid punishment for our actions.
This Gary was sure there would be no consequence of his actions. Otherwise, I think, he would not do that.

That's...very correct. The author specified Gary thinking of there being no consequences if he actually hurt Michelle in a lucid dream. Gary seem to have done that mainly because of that. There will be no one to answer to, there will be no one to punish him, no questions asked, he will get to go away with it.

Then, the question arises here that how would he able to take revenge, in the sequel of the book, to the other Gary who killed Michelle?

We'll get to read that on the sequel I hope. Gary was pathetic person in black line. I want him to punish himself. I want him to take revenge in the sequel.

Troy Barnes wrote: ↑16 Jul 2021, 05:07 Black line Gary is filled with bitterness for his awful predicament and position in life. Its sort of the way some disabled people resent other more able bodied people and wish they could switch places with him and on that day he was filled with resentment and bitterness.

Exactly. This Gary let himself wallow in self pity that he felt the world was unfair to him. He felt that no one understood his predicaments and if he couldn't get something he truly wanted then no one should.

yomide wrote: ↑09 Jul 2021, 17:04 Gary in the black line seem more of a pathetic broken man with permanent damage on his physical and mental health. I thought perharps he is driven to show his ability by means of revenge.
What would you say drives Gary to stabbing Michelle; is it the humiliation he felt in her rejection? Is it perharps his mental health? Is it another hidden part of him? Or is it downright hatred? Or maybe something else entirely?

I think that what made him take those decisions is the fact that his inner emotions were triggered and he could no longer control them. And this is something that happens to many people, sometimes we are capable of things we deem unimaginable (both good and bad actions) and our environment brings out the worst or best of us. However, I do not thing that accidents are possible since we can actually be in control of our actions by being conscious, in his case Gary was simply fed up and decided to act before even thinking.

I feel like we weren’t in the black line long enough to get a feel for the cause of it. It’s like a random sporadic moment where he feels like doing this to Michelle. Maybe it’s something from the past or he is just angry in that worldline that he didn’t end up with her after all. As this book seems to be, it can easily get confusing lol.

Troy Barnes wrote: ↑16 Jul 2021, 05:07 Black line Gary is filled with bitterness for his awful predicament and position in life. Its sort of the way some disabled people resent other more able bodied people and wish they could switch places with him and on that day he was filled with resentment and bitterness.

I empathize with persons who suffer with chronic conditions. It was a difficult task for Garry to adjust to being permanently disabled. This must have impacted his mental health. He no doubt felt frustrated by his condition and would have naturally felt anger towards others who hurt him because of this. However his condition does not change the impact of his decisions.

Wow, I haven't thought to think of it that deep. Humans have layers, and I think those layers still affect each other in one way or another. With blackline!Gary, I think his desire to harm Michelle is a mix of all the things you mentioned. I can't say which one of them it is ultimately, because like I said, all those aspects merge into one that lead him to that.

Ellylion wrote: ↑10 Jul 2021, 06:05 I believe it's humiliation that he underwent due to MIchelle's refusal. He definitely wanted to take his revenge over her. In my opinion, Gary from the black line represents the dark side of human soul overall. But we still should take into consideration that he honestly thought it was just a dream when he stubbed Michelle.

Oooh, maybe that's why the author added blackline!Gary? To show our dark side? I never thought of it that way, I just thought maybe the author needed something intense. Anyway, I think it's a mix of the things OP mentioned. Also, I think it's still vile to purposely stab someone in a dream...