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City of Glass Thesis
To see the discussions that I had with my group about City of Glass by Paul Auster, click here.
Below is my essay, featuring what I found to be the biggest element of the book.

Doubles and Lies

Did you ever wonder why Paul Auster includes the theme of doubles in his novel, City of
Glass? The novel by Paul Auster is a mystery centered around a middle aged writer taking on the
persona of a detective on a case. It takes the reader on a journey of twists, turns, and arguably
symbolic references. To prove that lying to the world is indeed possible, Auster uses the theme of
doubles and multiples within City of Glass to convey that none of what he says can be trusted.
Auster uses the story of the Fall of Man and the
Fall of Language to suggest that lying is now possible. As
the main character, Quinn, reads about the Garden of
Eden in The Garden and the Tower: Early Visions of the
New World (Peter Stillman Sr.s book), he discovers that,
A thing and its name were interchangeable (43). This
means that prior to the Fall of Man, the name of
something represented that thing and that thing alone.
Lying was impossible, due to the fact that everything has
one meaning and could not be interpreted as anything
else. Auster uses this story to get the reader thinking
about how if lying was only impossible prior to the Fall of
Man, lying would now be very possible. The author also
conveys this via Quinns interpretation of choices when
nearing the end of the story. There could not be two
answers. It was either this or that (109). This notion
relates back to life prior to the Fall of Man, when
everything had only one meaning. In saying this, Quinn,
and by extension Auster, is trying to say that there is only
one truth. This would mean that every other
interpretation or answer is not the truth, but rather a lie.
Since everything has a double, or alternate meaning, the
author uses the theme of truth to convey its opposite: lies.
The possibility for double meanings show that Paul Austers statements may be false. This
concept of things having alternate double meanings, according to the character of Peter Stillman
Senior, came to being at the point of the Fall of Man. Names became detached from things; words
devolved into a collection of arbitrary signs; language had been severed from God (43). Stillman
was in essence saying that names dont only represent one thing after the Fall of Man. Auster
incorporated this theme into the story to support his theory that language is up for interpretation,
and any one's intentions can differ from others interpretations. Because of this, the reader can never
assume that anything Auster says is the truth. This is because what Auster says would be your
interpretation of what he said, and therefore may be false.
Auster also hints at the connection between doubles and falseness/lies when mentioning the
comparison between the language of God versus the language of Satan. In Miltons Paradise
Regained, Satan speaks with doublesense deluding, whereas Christs actions to his words
accord... (47). Christ and Satan being two opposite entities, if Christs actions to his words
accord, naturally, doublesense deluding translates to something along the lines of language of
lies. This connection between doubles and lies is, yet again, another way that Auster is trying to
convey that every detail in City of Glass could have an alternate double meaning, and should not
be trusted.
Due to opposite meanings of words and doubles within names, a paradox is created
concerning the trustworthiness of the author. The character of Peter Stillman Sr. notices and
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mentions in his book that there is a paradox between equal and opposite interpretations of names.
Stillman... dwelled on the paradox of the word cleave, which means both to join together and
to break apart, thus embodying two equal and opposite significations... (43). This is the first time
in the book when the author incorporates the concept of equal and opposite meanings of words.
Auster does this to show that in addition to statements having the potential to be false and
misinterpreted (the truth versus the lie), individual words can be misinterpreted as well. A word can
be assumed to represent a specific meaning, when in reality the intention of the speaker or author is
completely different. Auster also applies this equal and opposite concept on a very literal level. It
is as if the laws of basic physics apply to not only physical objects occupying space, but to names as
well. Quinn also refers to this when he mentions the baseball player, William Wilson, and his
pseudonym, William Wilson. The two William Wilsons cancelled each other out, and that was all.
He waved goodbye to them in his mind (126). Just as equal forces going against each other cancel
each other out, people and things with the same name cancel each other out. Auster included this in
City of Glass in order to get the audience thinking not only in terms of double meanings, but names
with literal doubles. Throughout City of Glass, any reader would notice that many characters share a
name with another. There are two Peter Stillmans, two Daniels, two Paul Austers, two DQs, and
even more references to double names. If any or all of these doubles were to cancel each other
out, their existence in the story would have been fabricated from the start. Paul Auster creates this
paradox intentionally in order to create skepticism for the reader about whether or not you can trust
the authors words.

Auster uses the character of himself and the story of Don Quixote to hint at his own intentions; to
prove to the reader that lying is possible, and therefore language is untrustworthy. The author
throws in several hints to suggest that the character of Paul Auster actually represents himself (other
than the same name). He references his wife, Siri, and even his son, Daniel Auster. These references
are put there in order to suggest that if Paul Auster the character and Paul Auster the person are one
in the same, their opinions are also the same. Auster in City of Glass interprets the story of Don
Quixote as an experiment to determine whether or not things can actually have double meanings.
Would it be possible, he wondered, to stand up before the world and... spew out lies and nonsense?
To say that windmills were knights, that a barbers basin was a helmet, that puppets were real
people? (9899). The author once asked himself the same question: is it possible for us as humans
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to spew out lies, while fully informed of the truth? Paul Auster uses City of Glass to prove that yes,
lying is very possible, regardless of the context.
Auster uses various themes surrounding doubles to prove that language is untrustworthy. By
using the reference to the Fall of Man, he uses the concept of truth to explain the potential for lies.
The themes of double meanings and double names symbolize the alternate interpretations that can
be made about words and language as a whole. In the end, he wished to give us an answer to a
question he once asked himself about the abilities of man, and he provides us with insight that we as
readers can continue to apply to other literature as we move on with our lives.

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