Professor Calculus is in someways a metaphor for the contract of literature,the lie of literature- he inverts the literal conventions that his fictitious companions take as pat and ths opens up new spaces of the textwhile also shutting them down- questioning and yet maintaining the core secret. His rather trivial little pendulum takes him directly here, directing him on circular paths that would otherwise be straight, enabling a greater variety of experiences to be drawn while also asking questions of the straight path. Castiafore sings a song but Calculus plays along.
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