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Definition of Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... read full definition
Chapter 12: The Gentleman From Tralfamadore
Explanation and Analysis—Apple Pie:
The narrator employs the idiom “apple-pie order” to describe a moment of absolute neatness and perfection that stands in stark contrast to the chaotic physical setting in which it appears. This powerful use of language occurs in the Epilogue, immediately after the vastly ancient alien messenger, Salo, commits suicide by disassembling his mechanical body and scattering his parts across the beach of Titan.
The idiom signifies the psychological state of Chrono as he wanders among the wreckage. Although the scene is chaotic and violent, Chrono perceives the environment as being in "apple-pie order":
Chrono went out on the beach alone, wandered thoughtfully among Salo’s parts. Chrono had always known that his good-luck piece had extraordinary powers and extraordinary meanings. [...] Chrono did not have a sense of futility and disorder. Everything seemed in apple-pie order to him. And the boy himself participated fitly in that perfect order.
This perception of absolute order emphasizes Chrono’s psychological detachment and his acceptance of the cosmic absurdity revealed by Salo’s final message. Having learned that the whole of human history was merely an orchestrated effort by the Tralfamadorians to deliver Salo a replacement part, which Chrono unknowingly carried as his "good-luck piece," Chrono is detached from human hubris.
Chrono believed that it was "the nature of truly effective good-luck pieces that human beings never really owned them," but merely benefited from them until the "superior owners" claimed them. When the genuine owner, the machine Salo, finally arrived to claim the part and subsequently dismantled himself, Chrono perceived the violent restoration of cosmic hierarchy, resulting in a sense of perfect internal order. By applying the conventional idiom for simple neatness to this moment of mechanical, predetermined fate, the novel satirizes the human need for neat, comforting explanations, such as those sought in religion. Chrono finds peace by accepting his small place as a participant "fitly in that perfect order" of a predetermined universe.
Related Themes:
