Judgement Day Pale Fire Journal Judgement Day Pale Fire Journal | Page 30

AMERICAN LAWYER
Of course. Though I will not get into Shade’s death just yet, ladies and
gentlemen, I think we can all see that Kinbote was a
man obsessed with transmuting his insanity into art,
but lacking the actual talent, imposed his ideas onto
the work of another. Had Shade actually made a po-
em about Zembla, then this case would not exist. In
Kinbote’s words, "Once transmuted by [Shade] into
poetry, the stuff [would] be true, and the people
[would] come alive." Page 214, for those keeping
track. But this is not the case. This is not a poem
about Zembla. This is a poem about the tragedies of
life the Shades endured. A stranger should not have
the right to infringe upon a family’s life in such a pub-
lic manner. Sybil Shade deserves the right to her
husband’s final work - a work so deeply personal,
and so deeply wronged.
ZEMBLAN LAWYER
But what about the little details? Page 159 - Kinbote mentions singing a
hymn! Then on 199, he describes Charles the Be-
loved as a gifted hymnist! Clearly, there is a connec-
tion!
AMERICAN LAWYER
A conspiracy theory built on insignificant details, maybe -
JUDGE
Gentlemen!
ZEMBLAN LAWYER
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