I. CRITIQUE OF THE BIBLE AS A TEXT?--see the link below to MILTON'S BELIEFS--WHAT ARE THE DANGERS OF DECONSTRUCTING IT?

II. THE WORLD IS IN GOD; NOT A SET OF RIGID DOGMAS--DANGER AGAIN.

III. THE IDEAS OF SPINOZA: CAN HUMAN LIFE BE SUBJECT TO NATURAL LAW REGADING CONDUCT?

A. MONIST--(P. 247) SPINOZA REJECTS THE CARTESIAN DUALISM OF MIND AND MATTER.

B. ALL IN NATURE IS THOUGHT OR EXTENSION.

C. A FLOWER AND A POEM ABOUT A FLOWER ARE BOTH THE EXPRESSION OF SUBSTANCE BUT SEEN FROM A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW.

D. SUBSTANCE CAN ASSUME DIFFERENT MODES.

E. THE LAWS OF NATURE: (GOD) DECIDES WHAT WE THINK AND DO--WHAT MODE WE ASSUME...ALL IN THE NATURAL WORLD IS DETERMINED BY NECESSITY--GOD’S WILL.

IS THE NATURAL LAW WHICH SAYS THAT X OPERATES ACCORDING TO ITS OWN DYNAMIC--WITH MAN IN DIFFERENT MODES:

1..THOUGHT-- a poem about a flower (See Wordsworth)
2..EXTENSION--the flower in the sense perception world

IV. OUR PASSIONS PREVENT US FROM ACHIEVING TRUE HARMONY--CAN SUBVERT THE LAWS OF NATURE--THIS IS A KIND OF DETERMINISM SO WHAT WE BECOME IS WHAT GOD HAS ORDAINED OUR NATURE TO BE, SO DOES MAN HAVE FREE WILL? (P. 248 ff.)

V. MESSAGE FROM HILDE'S DAD IN THE BANANA-how is this possible? (p. 252), WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT HILDE'S DAD IS EVERYWHERE?:

A. NOTE THE PERSPECTIVE OF HILDE / SOPHIE IN LIGHT OF PHILOSOPHERS STUDIED?...

B. ARE WE PART OF SOMETHING LARGER?--THIS IS A SUBSTANTIATIVE CLUE TO THE SOPHIE - HILDE RELATIONSHIP.

C. THE DREAM? FOR YOU STAR TREK FANS, CHECK A TNG DEVICE ON THE ENTERPRISE THAT ALLOWS ONE TO CREATE...

VII. WHY DOES ALBERTO CALL SOPHIE 'HILDE?'

Upon what philosophical assumption does the question depend?
What should you do next?
What does the phrase "I never heard of that before" really mean?
As you read these words, do you know what else I am doing?
What does that imply?
Solve the riddle, and yo have a "major" clue to the novel's progression.