Thoughts on “The Absence of Field”
“The Absence of Field” is the name of Episode 3 of West World Season 3. It allegedly comes from Mark Strand’s poem “Keeping Things Whole“. After watching, my thoughts has been lingering around the name for quite some time, for its intriguing nature of imagery.
A field is intangible, yet observable, quite a resemblance to a soul. In the poem, a field is missing because of “I” stand in the way. While in the show, Charlotte is no longer herself anymore because of someone else inside her body. Either case, the absence is a mirrored way of saying existence.
Who am I then, if not part of a field? What does soul really mean, for Charlotte not being Charlotte?
“I” move, to keep things whole. Hmm… Isn’t that an echo of the idea that soul is just a pattern, an “emergence” from perpetual motion in one’s lifetime？