Mar 18, 2025
okay, so i dont know if this is done purposefully, but i noticed something: to me, a reader, Atlas actually doesnt feel very human. It goes past the simple descriptions you give him. It feels like you're deliberately showing that he has nothing to say or think, and that further emphasizes the idea of him being a shell of his old self.
now enter this chapter.
julian is here describing Atlas as if he is a lifeless husk, which has been made pretty clear from previous chapters. normally, you'd call someone you pick up off the streets a "stray dog," but that implies that the person is in need of nourishment and care and whatnot.
Atlas is not.
Right now, regardless of whether he likes it, he is still a being above the rest. He has no need for sustenance or nurturance. I might be just restating what is already known, but it feels like the statement carries a bit more weight now: Atlas is quite literally a drifting deity on Earth. But there is also a human part of him, and I'd say that part resembles a newborn. His personality and disposition have been wiped clean, and now we have the blank slate before us.
With that in mind, I read further.
Mary seems to be "teaching him how to live," and this, to me, is very significant. It's as if she's breathing life into him. As if she's reminding him that he IS still human. As if she's reminding him what humanity is.
Maybe he will start to realize that he no longer needs to look at the world with the perspective of someone from above. He might begin to embrace his humanity once more, and in turn, that may bring forth some remnants of his life before holding up the sky, when he was (supposedly) just a normal human being.
an interesting chapter dude i feel like solid development is being made
