S. becomes angry after he’s reminded of Corbeau. S. has a strong sense of justice and wants to avenge his dead friend by resisting Vévoda. The passive act of protecting art work “seems tragically insufficient to him.” S. continues his self righteous rant about how they should all fight. Osfour reminds S. that he is only there momentarily. S. tries to assign himself importance given the circumstances. However, someone with a better-established importance holds to keys to S.’s future.

Jen and Eric talk about the importance of Straka’s name and it’s relation to the person who died in Prague (Varclav Straka). This question book raises a point similar to that of the Paradox of the Ship of Theseus: at what point does one person’s name become another? Since VM Straka has a different middle initial than Vaclav Straka, does the relationship between the two names have any significance? How different are they?

Martin Straka, a retired hockey player shared VMS’ last name. Is this significant?