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• 1 2020-09-21T14:09:26-04:00 Invitation to a Beheading 137-153 10 Vladimir Nabokov plain 2020-10-06T14:16:43-04:00

  pg. 137 — Arriėre
  Rodrig Ivanonich shouts "Arriėre!" at Cincinnatus when his mother is leaving, which is French for "Back!" 

  pg. 137 — Punchinello doll
  M'sieur Pierre walks in on Cecilia and Cincinnatus carrying a checkerboard and punchinello doll. A punchinello doll is a doll inspired by Italian theater and puppetry. Pulcinella (the fictional character whom the doll is based on) is described as a self-interested, crude, and sly two-faced character. Pulcinella is a deceitful character, alternating between positions of low and high power just like M'sieur Pierre. It is fitting that M'sieur Pierre, who pretended to be a prisoner and befriend Cincinnatus, was carrying around a punchinello doll and was Cincinnatus' executioner the entire time.
  
  pg. 141 — Tempos
  Music is a recurring theme throughout Invitation to a Beheading, and Cincinnatus uses "tempo" figuratively when he writes about his and Marthe's relationship. Tempo is the set beat or pace of the music, usually indicated by the composer or conductor. Their tempos do not align, unfortunately for Cincinnatus. 
  
  pg. 143 — Chess
  The game of chess between Cincinnatus and M'sieur Pierre only highlights the annoying, childish, and perverted personality of M'sieur Pierre. Not only is M'sieur Pierre a bad chess player, but he is also a petulant child in his "retakes" and "mistaken moves" who doles out unsolicited and denigrating advice on women and sex. The interaction between Cincinnatus and M'sieur Pierre (where Cincinnatus' presence is sorely lacking) only highlight the vast difference in personality, chess skill, and perversions. Pierre's childish tantrums and outbursts after losing goose only emphasize this more. Notably, Nabokov was a skilled chess player and utilized chess as a thematic device throughout many of his novels. In Invitation to a Beheading, it seems as though Cincinnatus is winning the chess game, but M'sieur Pierre is the one dictating which moves are "appropriate" or acceptable to him. Despite his skill, Cincinnatus is powerless against the deception and games that M'sieur Pierre is playing with him. 
  
  pg. 146 — Goose
  After Cincinnatus' and M'sieur Pierre's disastrous chess game, M'sieur Pierre demands to play "goose," an old board game where each player throws dice and attempts to reach 63 before losing. 

  pg. 150 — Brocade skullcap 
  M'sieur Pierre wears a brocade skullcap, a richly woven hat of possible Jewish or Chinese origin, while lounging on Cincinnatus' cot. The skullcap, in addition to the pipe he smokes, contributes to the unrealistic, decadent persona of M'sieur Pierre, who walks around, talks, and possesses things no prisoner would typically enjoy in a cell. Despite surrounding himself with so many elaborate, exotic objects, M'sieur Pierre continues to spout unsound advice and act like a spoiled child. 

  pg. 150 — Meerschaum pipe 
  An elaborately decorated and fanciful smoking pipe. 

  pg. 153 — en fait de potage
  When M'sieur Pierre says, "en fait de potage," he says gibberish: "in fact of soup." This only adds to the evidence that he isn't really a true Frenchman as earlier Pyotr Petrovich, his real name, is dropped mid-conversation. 
  
  Bibliography: 
  
  Purdy, Strother B. “SOLUS REX: NABOKOV AND THE CHESS NOVEL.” The Johns Hopkins University Press: Modern Fiction Studies, (Winter), 14, no. 4 (0AD): 379–95. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26278699.