Stories-Discuss-Cherry Jubilee

Good theory! I have to admit I'd never bothered to draw the diagram, despite Wolfe's injunction. -- Mo 20080815

DaveTallman, wonderful job on your analysis here. Just a couple questions:

  • First, is there a particular reason why you've written the names of the husband and wife as "Pet____" instead of "Petrovsky"? Smith is, of course, uncertain of their names at dinner, but Oussenko's interrogation later in the story makes it clear that their surname is actually "Petrovsky," no? Or do you feel that there is still some lingering confusion over their surname?
  • Secondly, if Anna and Pasik suspect that Merry and Cherry have changed places, why wouldn't they have mentioned that when they were being interrogated by Oussenko?
  • Finally, how could Cherry have assumed the dominant role in their partnership? Your analysis mentions blackmail as a possibility, but I don't see how that could work. If Cherry has assumed Merry's identity, then any blackmail she would have on Merry would backfire onto herself. For example, any threat of exposing Merry's escapist methods would impact her own livelihood.

-- DarthEd November 07, 2010, at 08:32 PM

Thanks DarthEd. I missed the later expansion of the names. The Petrovsky's wouldn't have volunteered any information unless they were sure. The citzens and police do not have a cooperative relationship in this society, based on the example of Russia. My blackmail theory centered on Merry's affair, though there may be other secrets. -- DaveTallman November 08, 2010, at 9:23 AM

OK, I can buy into your answer with regard to the Petrovskys. As for Merry and Cherry, I still don't see how any sort of blackmail between them would be at all viable considering their switched identities. I'm going to add that as an unresolved question....

If there is blackmail going on between them though, I doubt the affair is at the core of it. Indeed, I think it's likely that the Captain was having the affair with Cherry in the guise of Merry. Merry very freely admits the affair during Ourssenko's interrogation. Seems like that would be something easier for Merry to admit if it was Cherry who actually had the affair. At Oussenko's interrogation she says, "So last night, and the night before that, too, he came to my cabin for a while." I infer from that statement that the affair has only been going on for a short time, probably only a few days. I think Merry and Cherry must have switched identities prior to that, probably right before or soon after embarking on the voyage to Mars. Also, the reasons she gives for being attracted to the Captain are somewhat juvenile and fit better with Cherry's mindset. She also says, "There now. It's out. Did I act while I was telling you like I'd kill my two hundred thousand dollar clone to keep it a secret?" I maintain that she did not. If the affair is not a secret she's willing to kill for, I don't think it be a secret worth trading identities to keep either. It seems to me that the only secrets Merry is willing to do anything for to keep are her escapology methods. "I don't reveal my methods. Ever." But, as I wrote above, revealing such trade secrets would threaten Cherry's livelihood as well as Merry's, so it doesn't seem logical. Cherry has a child's mind though, so maybe it's a plausible theory regardless. -- DarthEd November 08, 2010, at 07:02 PM

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