Study Guide

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party Part 1, Chapter 5

By M.T. Anderson

Part 1, Chapter 5

So there was this guy—a painter/scientist called Mr. 07-03—who was all into nature.
We're talking wood nymphs, forests, birds—an old-school granola-cruncher.
Octavian remembers this one time Mr. 07-03 got them all to have a picnic during a summer day in the country; all the scholars plus Octavian and his mother went.
It was a great day, for no reason other than everyone was just calm and happy, with good food and laughter all around. Here's what happened:
The men gathered around Octavian's mother while their wives went off to the side. (We're guessing the wives weren't too happy about that.)
Then 07-03 got it into his head that they should all be like animals again, crawling on all fours.
So a bunch of the scholars and Octavian crawled on hands and knees in front of Octavian's mother, who laughed.
That evening Mr. Gitney gave a speech that capped everything off: he basically stated that Nature is God's gift to civilized man and man should use Nature like it's his God-given right — like a new Eden.
Then they went back to Boston.
On the ride back, Octavian sits with 24-06, only when Octavian calls him "24-06," 24-06 tells him that's not his name; his name's Bono (no—not the singer from U2).
Bono's not cool with Octavian. How do we know?
Octavian wants to ask Bono about the moon and the sun, but Bono tells him to shut up or else he'll kick Octavian off the carriage.
Then he tells Octavian that Octavian can't cry, even though he starts to pinch Octavian hard.
Octavian tells us he stops feeling and becomes "observant" instead.
He notices the scenery, like felons hanging from nooses—you know, cheery stuff.
Then, when they arrive, Bono gets mysterious. He tells Octavian to "learn fear" because—we'll just quote—"fear is like happiness, but the smile is wider."
Creepy…
Octavian brings us back to the present and tells us that it was moments like this when—as a kid—he'd wonder who he really was.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party Part 1, Chapter 5 Study Group

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The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party Part 1, Chapter 5

By M.T. Anderson

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