Judgement Day Pale Fire Journal Judgement Day Pale Fire Journal | Page 47

this book?
Frank: To publish this novel, a professional proofreader came in to com-
pare the printed copy of the novel with what Kinbote wrote. This printed
copy was faithfully checked, and is certain to be an exact copy of Kin-
bote’s novel. In the Preface of the novel, I required Kinbote to mention that
he was the sole individual responsible for any mistakes in the commen-
tary. This was to ensure that there was no doubt as to who wrote this
book.
District Attorney: With this in mind, it is reasonable to assume that all com-
mentary in the book was indeed written by Charles Kinbote, correct?
Frank: That is correct.
District Attorney: Very well, I have no more questions.
The Court: The witness is excused.
District Attorney: With this information in mind, I would like to read aloud
some passages from Charles Kinbote’s commentary of Pale Fire.
First, I would like to refer to page 27 of the novel, where Kinbote is de-
scribing Shade in detail:
“I experienced a grand sense of wonder whenever I looked at him, espe-
cially in the presence of other people, inferior people. This wonder was en-
hanced by my awareness of their not feeling what I felt, of their not seeing
what I saw, of their taking Shade for granted, instead of drenching every
nerve, so to speak, in the romance of his presence.”
This is obviously written from the viewpoint of a man who is completely ob-
sessed with another. Kinbote seems to have viewed Shade as a god
among men, and worshiped his work and everything he did. However, he
took his infatuation one step too far, and went from being a simple fan to
being a stalker of an idol, which led to a series of circumstances that af-
fected many people in Shade’s life.
On top of all of this, throughout the work we discover that Charles
Kinbote believes that he is the king of a fictional land called Zembla! In his
commentary to Pale Fire, he also goes into depth many times about this
so-called king of Zembla, and how a murderer is after him. Paranoid delu-
sions are a sign of schizophrenia, a mental disorder which can also result
in hallucinations. Charles himself was reported to have a history of halluci-
nations throughout his life, (98) This would directly coincide with the belief
that Charles Kinbote is mentally unstable! Charles Kinbote has a false
sense of reality, as well as schizophrenic tendencies, which could easily
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