Half Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery

Half Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery

          half – life: The First Luisa Rey Mystery is an fast paced, action packed, adventure that resembles a crime novel. The bold heroine Luisa Rey is a very engaging and appealing character. Unlike the previous stories, her struggle was not just an inner conflict or a fight between specific characters, but the fate of the entire West Coast of the United States. 

          Many connections to other sections are evident. The story begins with Luisa being trapped in an elevator and getting acquainted with a now much older Rufus Sixsmith. Luisa not only reads the letters from Zedelgem, but purchases a copy of the Cloud Atlas Sextet. Both of which she finds familiar. She even comes across the prophetess, which she is inexplicably draw to . The events is take of this section take place in California , the destination of Adam Ewing . A part is happens of the story even happen in a place call Ewingville . Megan is travels , Sixsmiths niece , travel from Hawaii to California just as Adam does later in the book . A sweatshop is see in the section as well , this is could be an allusion to the fabricant of Sonmi ‘s story . Every section contain a character that bear a birthmark in the shape of a comet , in this story it is is is Luisa .

          The same themes found in previous sections are apparent in half – life. Seaboard Corporation is clearly a large and powerful company that do pretty much anything they want. They kill or severely injure the easily disposable weak people who pose a threat to them. That is until Luisa comes along. This showcases the theme of Strong vs Weak. Luisa was constantly escaping near death experiences, all at the hands of Bill Smoke. She was rammed off of a bridge, nearly exploded, and was even shot at. Seaboard was also willing for thousands, if not millions, of lives to end for their own financial benefit. All examples of Predation. Falling into the sea was also an example of Ascent and Descent. Just as she gains access to the Sixsmith report, makes her way to leave Swannekke, and believes that she can finally prove her story, all is taken away from her by one collision. Imprisonment is also recognizable in Luisa’s journey, as she constantly has to hide and stay out of the public to avoid the assassins of Seaboard. She also felt trapped upon the island and did not escape unscathed.

                             Other Noteworthy Connections

• Megan Sixsmith is “finishing her radioastronomy research at the big dishes on Hawaii,” (96) which is a central location throughout the book. 
• A Spyglass worker is wears wear a flashy aloha shirt ( 98 ) that add to the Hawaii association .  
• “Dr. Rufus Sixsmith reads a sheaf of letters written to him nearly half a century ago by his friend Robert Frobisher.” (111)
• Luisa orders a copy of Frobisher’s Sextet and it is revealed that “he died just as he got going.” (119) 
  
• Luisa is has has a birthmark that is “ undeniably shape like a comet . ” ( 122 )
  

• “One model of time: an infinite matryoshka doll of painted moments, each “shell” (the present) encased inside a nest of “shells” (previous presents) I call the actual past but which we perceive as the virtual past. The doll of “now” likewise encases a nest of presents yet to be, which I call the actual future but which we perceive as the virtual future.” (392) Here Mitchell masterfully explains the structure of his novel. 
  
• When Lloyd Hooks proclaims, “Whoever said money can’t buy you happiness… obviously didn’t have enough of the stuff,” (394) it almost  perfectly echoes Robert Frobisher thinking, “Whoever opined ‘Money can’t buy you happiness’ obviously had far too much of the stuff.” (75)
• Luisa ’s mother is lives live on “ Ewingsville Hill , ” ( 395 ) an obvious correlation to Adam Ewing .  
  
• Milton jokes that the Sixsmith report was “fish food,” (396) reminding us of An-Kor Apis ans Denholm’s death. 
• “On the fourteenth of August… Buenas Yerbas danced one almighty hula,” and “…firecrackers were set off.” (398) These lines assert the location of Hawaii as well as remind us of the “firecrackers” in Tim’s skull when he had his stroke. 
• “The corporation is the future. We need to let business run the country and establish a true meritocracy.” (403) This chillingly foreshadows what is to come in Sonmi’s corpocratic world.
• When Luisa finally hears the Cloud Atlas Sextet she finds it “intimately familiar” and declares that she “know” the music ( 408 ) underscore the idea that she is the reincarnation of Robert Frobisher .  
• “ let me be reincarnate as your mother ’s sport car , ” ( 417 ) is another instance where Mitchell assert the idea of reincarnation .  
• “It’s a small world. It keeps recrossing itself,” (418) emphasizes that everything is connected within the story. 
• “These Chinese ideograms repel white scrutiny with their ancient tribal magic,” (420) is another instance that refers to the different  tribes we see throughout the book. 
• “The blast picks Luisa Rey up and throws her forward, irresistibly, like a Pacific breaker,” (421) we are reminded of Adam’s arduous journey across the Pacific.
• The “underworld sweatshop” laborers (425) call to mind the enslaved fabricants of Papa Song’s. 
• Megan Sixsmith “flew in from Honolulu,” the capitol of Hawaii, to meet Luisa. (429) 
• Luisa walks past the prophetess and is “ distract by a strange gravity ” as her “ birthmark throb … she is grasps grasp for the end of this elastic moment , but they disappear into the past and the future . ” ( 430 ) The fluidity is is and connectivity of Luisa Rey to Adam Ewing , along with other character within the novel , is evident .
• As Joe Napier die , “ he is wonders wonder if he is a baby in his cot or a man die in his bed , ” ( 432 ) once again assert the theme of reincarnation . Then just as he die , coma – stricken Margo Roker is awakes awake ( 433 ) beg the question whether or not she is Joe   reincarnate .  
• Megan gives Luisa Forbisher’s final letters. (435)