Plague of Pythons · Chapter
XII explained
Chandler struggles with his role as Rosalie Pan's companion, feeling like a pampered pet rather than a man.
What happens
Chandler struggles with his role as Rosalie Pan's companion, feeling like a pampered pet rather than a man. Rosalie tries to justify the Execs' genocidal actions as necessary work, and eventually offers Chandler a coronet that allows him to experience the Execs' power of possessing others, giving him a taste of their god-like abilities.
Themes in this chapter
Possession and Loss of Autonomy
Chandler is repeatedly possessed by Execs, used as a proxy, and feels his autonomy stripped away, culminating in his own experience of possessing others.
Dehumanization and Survival
Chandler compares himself to a Pekingese and a male geisha, feeling dehumanized despite his survival, while the Execs dehumanize their victims as 'lumps' to be eliminated.
Power and Corruption
Rosalie justifies mass murder as 'the surgeon's knife,' revealing how absolute power corrupts the Execs into believing their genocidal actions are righteous.
Characters to notice
- Chandler
Feels degraded as Rosalie's companion, resents being used as a proxy, and is given a coronet to experience possessing others.
- Rosalie Pan
Justifies the Execs' mass killings as necessary work, coaxes Koitska to allow Chandler to use a coronet, and guides him through his first possession experience.
- Koitska
Monitors Chandler's coronet use, turns off the device after an hour, and argues with Rosalie in Russian before reluctantly allowing Chandler to try the coronet.
- Andrei
Briefly possesses Chandler's body to argue with Rosalie in Russian about allowing Chandler to use the coronet.
Key passages
“He was that most of all. One exec who wished to communicate with another cast about for an available human proxy nearby. Chandler was that for Rosalie Pan: her telephone, her social secretary, and on occasion he was the garment her dates put on.”
Chandler serves as a human proxy for Execs, acting as Rosalie's communication device and even being used as a body for her dates.
Highlights Chandler's dehumanizing role as a mere tool for the Execs.
“We've solved the whole Indian-Pakistani population problem in the last two months. They'll not have to worry about famine again for a dozen generations!”
Rosalie boasts that the Execs have eliminated the Indian and Pakistani populations to solve overpopulation, framing genocide as a solution to famine.
Illustrates the Execs' genocidal mindset and their justification of mass murder.
“Chandler stood motionless for a moment and then, without effort, floated free of his own body. Floating. Floating; a jellyfish floating. Trailing tentacles that whipped and curled, floating over the sandbound claws and chitin that clashed beneath, floating over the world's people, and them not even knowing, not even seeing.”
Chandler experiences the Execs' power of astral projection, floating as a disembodied entity over humanity, which he now sees as 'sandbound' creatures.
Describes Chandler's first taste of the Execs' god-like power and his altered perception of humans.