finished with that topic
Come on, I thought we were done with that.The Man from Earth · 2007 — Chapter 6 of 18 · 3'52" · C1
John's Farewell Talk, Explained: You can't go home again
The talk is pushed on: it is interesting and makes "a certain amount of sense," then called logic from "absurd premises." Home at five was Little Rock. The market's direction is "I don't know." What stuck is a gas station and a field. "You can't go home again" follows, because that place "isn't there anymore."
What happens
Someone is told to go on. A Van Gogh gift and a pig farmer named Jacques Bourne come up, then a Little Rock childhood that will not sit on a map. Later the talk turns to leaving once someone's not aging becomes a topic, to passing as one's own son, and to a year in jail in Belgium in 1862. What is left is why.
Listen for
a certain amount of senseabsurd premisesstuck in your mindYou can't go home again
00:00 / 03:52Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Tap a line to replay it
Phrase of the scene
You can't go home again
the old home no longer exists
After the place is called built up, the next line brings in You can't go home again and supplies the cause: it is not there anymore.
You can't go home again; our street is a parking garage now.
Also in this scene
- a certain amount of sense
partly logical, not fully
- absurd premises
starting points that are absurd
- stuck in your mind
stayed in memory
- unlearn
let go of what one learned
- passed as
be accepted as someone else
Everything marked in this scene
30 notes across 80 lines
partly logical, not fully
Someone refuses to drop the subject and grants only partial logic, enough to keep people listening.
Besides, I think he's making a certain amount of sense.Let the end of amount run into of without a separate beat.
Besides, I think he's making a certain amount of sense.starting points that are absurd
Right after a partial defense, someone compares the talk to neat logic built on a ridiculous start.
Like Hegel. Logic from absurd premises.earn a living by manual work
I like to work with my hands.Keep have lighter than would and loved.
He would have loved them, though.lectures too dull to warm to lukewarm, meaning the lectures were dull
I learned that in- professor Hensen's tepid lectures.Tap the t inside Little; don't stop dead on it.
Little Rock.stayed in memory
After direction and distance are asked, the next line is whether any references stuck in your mind. The phrase means stayed in memory. The references are the landmarks, not a street name.
Were there any references that stuck in your mind?relative clause: that limits which landmarks stayed remembered.
Were there any references that stuck in your mind?covered over with buildings not feelings building up; new buildings
No. I'm sure it's all different and built up.the childhood home is gone nobody is blocking him; the market and field are gone
Thus the saying "You can't go home again" Because it isn't there anymore.by one's own measure not a map scale; his own measure
Picture it on my scale-a city spreading without an edge
My eye sees freeways, urban sprawl, Big Macs under the Eiffel tower.growing larger without a stop
Early on, the world got bigger and bigger, and then...leave and begin somewhere else not changing the subject; leaving and starting over
As you've said, there's talk of my not aging, And when that happens, I move on.negative gerund: my not aging turns not growing older into the thing people discuss.
As you've said, there's talk of my not aging, And when that happens, I move on.prepare another identity beforehand
Well, it might make sense to set up your next identity,be taken for one's own son not passing a test; being accepted as that person
I've done that a few times, even passed as my own son.caught and exposed — Fine among friends for getting caught; skip it in formal writing.
On the other hand, I've been busted a few times.forging an official application
Spent a year in jail, Belgium, 1862 - I won't forget that - for faking a government application.parenthetical aside: The dashes park a feeling without changing the jail fact.
Spent a year in jail, Belgium, 1862 - I won't forget that - for faking a government application.The d in When'd already holds did; don't open it again.
When'd you come to America?immediately following an event
1890, right after Van Gogh's death, With some French immigrants...not the person others assumed
Wanted to say good-bye to you as me, not what you thought I was.offer practical help
The previous line is I've got boxes to move. The next is I'll give you a hand. give you a hand is practical help with that job, not a literal hand. The lines do not show who is speaking.
I'll give you a hand.a keepsake of where one started
As a memento to your beginnings, even if you didn't have the concept of beginnings?concessive clause: even if grants the missing concept and still asks why it stayed.
As a memento to your beginnings, even if you didn't have the concept of beginnings?Put the weight on lied and skim could have.
You could have lied about that.during the time someone is away
Don't talk about me while I'm gone.John's Farewell Talk, explained
What's really going on
Ordinary questions open the memory test. Where did you live at five? Which way was the market? How far? What stuck in your mind? The answers are Little Rock, "I don't know," "three blocks," a gas station and a field. Would it be the same today? "No. I'm sure it's all different and built up." Thus the saying "You can't go home again," because "it isn't there anymore." "Picture it on my scale" turns that corner into migration through forests, mountains, tundra and canyons. Memory sees what was seen then. The eye sees "freeways, urban sprawl, Big Macs under the Eiffel tower." "Think what I've had to unlearn" names the gap. Talk of not aging leads to leaving, even passing as one's own son, or getting busted. Why say it? "A whim." Then: "Wanted to say good-bye to you as me, not what you thought I was."
Theme
MemoryThe direction to a childhood market cannot be recalled, and the line about memory seeing what was seen then no longer matches the freeways and sprawl the eye sees now.
IdentityLeaving starts when there is talk of not aging. The same stretch includes passing as one's own son, getting busted, and a goodbye as oneself.
Listen for
- amount of sense — Let the end of amount run into of without a separate beat.
- would have loved — Keep have lighter than would and loved.
- Little Rock — Tap the t inside Little; don't stop dead on it.
- When'd you come — The d in When'd already holds did; don't open it again.
Thus the saying "You can't go home again" Because it isn't there anymore.Here the saying is literal: a childhood place would be built up now, so the home in memory is no longer there to return to.
My eye sees freeways, urban sprawl, Big Macs under the Eiffel tower.What the eye sees now is roads, endless city, and a Big Mac under the Eiffel Tower, nothing like what memory kept.
Think what I've had to unlearn.The world got bigger and then changed, so a mass of older knowledge had to be thrown out. This line names that job.
I've done that a few times, even passed as my own son.This line says it has been done a few times, even passing as one's own son. The quoted words after it call that person Ben's son and an engineer, and call Ben a good man.
Wanted to say good-bye to you as me, not what you thought I was.The reason given is a farewell as oneself, not as the person others thought they knew. It comes after the line "A whim. Maybe not such a good idea."
You could have lied about that.It says the person could have lied about whatever was just mentioned. It does not identify what that refers to or whether the claim was false.
Questions about this scene
Is "You can't go home again" about a mood or a place here?
A place. The answer just before it is that a return today would be "all different and built up." The line then states the saying because "it isn't there anymore." Nothing in the wording claims a change of feeling. The next line only says, "Picture it on my scale."
Why move on when people start to talk?
The line gives the trigger: “As you've said, there's talk of my not aging, And when that happens, I move on.” Just before, someone says, “And now you're moving on.” A later “Moving on” follows the 1890 Van Gogh line, but those lines do not show it is the same departure.
Why tell them any of this?
"Except one, John" leaves one question, and the next line asks it: "Why're you doing this?" What follows is "A whim. Maybe not such a good idea." Then "Wanted to say good-bye to you as me, not what you thought I was." Since it "isn't funny," the reply is that there might be "a very serious problem."
Does the Belgium jail line explain the earlier bust?
Not explicitly. It comes directly after “On the other hand, I've been busted a few times,” which follows “Saves trouble with credentials and references.” The full line is “Spent a year in jail, Belgium, 1862 - I won't forget that - for faking a government application.” The lines do not show whether the jail term is the same bust, or the same speaker.
The Man from Earth · 18 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 7almost wish it were trueNever Told the Buddha
Chapter 1itchy feetJohn Gets Itchy Feet
Chapter 2itchy feetJohn Oldman's Farewell Toast
Chapter 3pan outJohn's Caveman Hypothetical
Chapter 4a day overNot a Day Over 900
Chapter 5just happenedI Just Happened, Not a Mission
Watching · Chapter 6You can't go home againJohn's Farewell Talk
Chapter 7almost wish it were trueNever Told the Buddha
Chapter 8no way to disproveNo Way to Disprove John's Story
Chapter 9So much forJohn's Caveman Claim Under Fire
Chapter 10I never saidJohn Says He Is Only Old
Chapter 11survivor's guiltJohn on Dying and Survivor's Guilt
Chapter 12on the ropesWill's Wife Just Died
Chapter 13a touch of senilityJohn Recalls Losing a Man in Brussels
Chapter 14no need of that hypothesisPressing John About the Bible
Chapter 15have something in mindJohn Implies He Was Jesus
Chapter 16the jury is still outSo You Were Jesus
Chapter 17If I said noJohn Won't Confirm He Was Jesus
Chapter 18chasing our tailsJohn's Story Is Called a HoaxChapter 6 of 18 · about 43 min to go