The word pieces is misspelled as pisces[1] (Latin for "fishes" and an astrological Zodiac sign) three or four times in House of Leaves. One is in one of Pelafina's letters, at the bottom of page 599 ("To endure over two months without a word and then with the first words learn such terrible news tore me to pisces."); another is on page 41 ("Pan, being the god of civility and restraint, tears her to Pisces"); and another on a photograph on page 552 ("the derivates seem to point to primary sense 'to wound, tear; pull to Pisces'"), the last of which also appears in the colored photograph insert at the front of the book. Each time, the word is used to describe something being violently torn apart, and in Zampanò's uses, relates to the myth of Echo and Narcissus, explicitly in the first example and implicitly ("narcissism" is mentioned) in the latter.[2]
This shared, unusual mistake between Zampanò's writings and Pelafina's Whalestoe Institute Letters is one of the strongest indicators that a single person (presumably Pelafina) wrote both, or at least had access to both (as well as a desire) to edit them and include the baffling error (presumably Johnny). It is also possible that the last of the three notes, on page 552, is actually from Johnny, not Zampanò, which would increase the possibility that Johnny is really responsible for all three typos (cf. Cancer, Johnny's astrological sign). Some have also used the fact that Echo and Pelafina are the two who risk being "torn to pisces" at various points in HoL as evidence of a connection between these two figures, as Pelafina has almost no physical contact with Johnny and thus exists for him primarily as fragmentary words (albeit written, rather than spoken, ones) from a distance.
It is worth noting that there are many times when "pieces" is not misspelled when used by Johnny and Zampanò (pp. v., xiii., xvii., 6, 11, 17, 42, 69, 71, 84, 86, 87, 93, 111, 122, 147, 162, 248, 249, 296, 333, 337, 354, 367, 379, 385, 390, 405, 548), and even one time when Pelafina spells the word correctly, on page 635: "There are so many pieces to make sense of, the doctors all warn me to just put aside the last two years." One of Truant's uses of "pieces" is also especially significant, on page xii, where a prostitute is described as having been "torn to pieces" (not "pisces").[3]
Interpretations
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The reason for this unusual misspelling is unknown, and has been a significant issue of debate over the years. This ambiguous reference may relate to Pisces also being the astrological sign of Mark Z. Danielewski (its domain is from February 19 to March 20 according to the tropical zodiac, March 12 to April 18 according to the sidereal), and perhaps having personal significance for him.[4] Some of the many theories as to its significance are detailed below.
"Pisces" could conceivably be a reference to the Biblical passage in which Jesus is able to feed hundreds of people with a single fish (Latin plural pisces) and loaf of bread (Latin plural panes). This relates to HoL in that the unexpected amount of food produced is similar to the "larger on the inside than the outside" spatial characteristic of the House. The fish, or Ichthys, was also one of the most common early symbols of Christianity, as it was an abbreviation for "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour" (Ἰησοῦς Χριστός θεός υἱός σωτήρ) (See also the other relations of Jesus and Christianity to Pisces below.)
PISCES is also an acronym, in Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow, for "Psychological Intelligence Schemes for Expediting Surrender", housed in The White Visitation. In the novel, PISCES is described as being "concerned with a rather strictly defined, clinical version of truth" (p. 272).
It has also been suggested that "Pisces" may be a reference to the lyrics of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box": "She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak / I've been locked inside your heart-shaped box for weeks". These lyrics are more interesting in that there is potential wordplay (also echoed in HoL) with "heart" and "hart", which is significant because of the deer-shaped locket Johnny keeps one of Pelafina's letters in (page 350).[2]
It has furthermore been suggested, on the basis of the lack of clear clues in HoL and resultant lack of agreement over its significance, that there may be no deeper meaning whatsoever to the repeated use of "pisces" errors. Alternatively, it is intended solely to reflect back whatever meaning is attributed to it, much like the House may reflect what its inhabitants expect. What makes the "pisces" typo one of the more compelling and speculated-over quirks in HoL, more than anything, is that it recurs at so many seemingly-unrelated points, creating a temptingly concrete link between HoL's narrators; thus, like an increasing echo or pattern, the word becomes "louder" or more resonant with each recurrence, until finally it is impossible to ignore.
Astrology
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Astrologically speaking, the Zodiac symbol Pisces is associated with secret pain, sleep, dreams, water (not Earth, as would be implied by its context on page 41), and the planet Neptune. The 12th sign of the Zodiac, Pisces is considered harmonious with Cancer (Johnny's sign), Scorpio and Virgo; its color is "sea-green", and its gems are "chrysolite" and "moonstone". It is also a famous symbol of rebirth, and the fish may represent the cyclic nature of life when portrayed as though about to eat one another, forming a circle or ellipse (cf. ouroboros). The dual nature of Pisces means that it can also represent dark and light, mind and body, lover and loved, all of which require their counterpart (a balance) to have meaning and substance.
People born under the Pisces sign are considered receptive, intuitive, idealistic, shy, nurturing, compassionate, emotional, flighty (such as a fish swims from danger), nostalgic, creative, dreamy, lacking self-confidence (though, this is thought to stem from the fact that they care more for others' well being more-so than their own) and disliking conflict and criticism. How well these traits apply to Danielewski is debatable, but a case could be made for a correspondence between some of these traits and Pelafina, whose date of birth (and thus sign of the Zodiac) is unknown. Pelafina certainly demonstrates emotionality, dreaminess, and "flightiness" in many of her letters, as well as creativity, impracticality, and a deeply nurturing nature; however, some of the other ascribed traits, like "shy" and "lacking self-confidence", are more of a reach. Moreover, Pelafina's interest in ancient classical culture and mysticism, and in subtle references and codes, would give her a motive to insert "pisces" in one of her letters; assuming that this is the case (which is certainly not the majority view, but is an interesting possibility), their recurrence in other sections of the book could have a number of different explanations, such as that she is the true author of Houes of Leaves (see Pelafina's authorship), that Johnny implanted the typo in Zampanò's notes for some reason after spotting it in Pelafina's, or that she and Zampanò have a past together (see Pelafina and Zampanò) and acquired the shared quirk then. Which interpretation one prefers depends largely on how one interprets the many other textual oddities and clues in HoL.
Carl Jung used the symbol of Pisces to represent the division of the mind and body, or, alternatively, of good and evil. The two fish are separate entities, but dependant on each other because they are joined at the tail. This could relate to any of the references in the book to pairs, dichotomies (such as red and blue)[5] or twins or echos, though a more explicit Zodiacal reference to this concept would have been Gemini. Jung also believed that the two fish represented Jesus and the Antichrist, which he believed was reflected in all people's dark sides ("Shadows" cast by the light of their good sides). Jung also wrote that a quest of self-discovery often took the form of a sea voyage involving a sea monster, such as a whale (symbolizing "mother"?).
It has also been noted that the sign of Pisces can move neither forwards nor backwards because the fish are not only tied at the tail, but also swim in opposite directions ("torn to pisces" may thus mean "torn into two pieces moving in opposite directions"); they can only be carried along by the river's current (cf. fatalism). They (Zampanò and Pelafina? Navidson and Karen?) may not even be aware of each other in their struggle. The fact that the typo always occurs in forms like "tear to pieces" or "pull to pieces" also suggests that the unity of the two fish is actually being violently shattered.
The "tearing to pieces" may also relate to the two elements of a pair (such as mind and body) being torn apart to be weighed on a scale and compared or balanced with one another. Thus, when Pan tears Echo "to pisces", he is deciding whether he most likes her body or her voice, and other references to pisces may likewise relate to deciding between two equal aspects. The "twin" aspect of Pisces may also relate to Chad and Daisy, who Zampanò writes of considering killing (infanticide) in the photographic insert at the front of the book, alongside one of his uses of "pisces". This, like the other examples of its occurrence (Echo's death and Pelafina's letter, which was the one where she responded to Johnny being sent to the hospital by Raymond), shows that "pisces" has exceedingly violent significance.
Aleister Crowley's vision of cosmic history involved the idea of time being divided into 2000-year "Aeons", with the Aeon immediately preceding this one being the Piscean Aeon, which revolved around the myth of the "Dying God" (see Christianity). The New Aeon, which began in 1904, is the Aeon of Horus or Aquarius, associated with the goddess Typhon. This is because one of the common origin myths of Pisces was that the gods Aphrodite and Eros turned into this pair of fishes to escape the monster Typhon.
According to the Astro Awareness website, "The fish represents the mother and son in the eternal struggle with one another, the son being part of and immersed in mother's water, and her creative yet primal energies. One of the fishes represents great fertile mother and the other is the son. She has the more distasteful qualities of the sign and the son the healing qualities of Christ. Both characters in actual fact are part of one another. The mother is the power and the son the victim, or redeemer.... Pisces are sometimes referred too [sic] as twice born." This interpretation has a great deal of potential significance for the relationship between Johnny and Pelafina. It is also significant to theories of Johnny having been a twin, although he is not a Pisces.
Notes
edit- ^ There are many other times in the book when one word is misspelled as another, such as mourning/morning, grey/gray, violet/violent. This sort of wordplay is a favorite of all three narrators'.
- ^ a b Aside from Pan and Echo, there are many other examples of people being "torn to pieces" in mythology, such as in Ovid's Metamorphoses, when the goddess Diana transforms the hunter Actaeon into a hart (a symbol significant throughout HoL) and has him torn to pieces for seeing her naked.
- ^ See tear for the potential dual meaning of "tears to pieces", comparable to the way wind can be used as both a noun and a verb. These words are often used in deliberately ambiguous ways throughout HoL, as in "Tears don't frighten me" (page xxi).
- ^ Before singing "Dolphin" in San Francisco, Poe asked if anyone was a Pisces. She has asked the same questions at other shows, when she's remembered to.
- ^ In addition to the obvious dichotomy between "Minotaur" and "house", consider One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, a popular children's book by Dr. Seuss.
