Pale Fire: Illustrated Sports Illustrated Sports Pale Fire Journal | Page 22

head nurse” (211) and more mentions of Nattochdag, one claiming him to be
Zemblan scholar (237) which would show why the patient created a king from
Zembla to match the top doctor at his institution. The end of the commentary
mentions the Institute for the Criminally Insane which “should have been his
permanent address all along” (295) showing even more proof of some type of
asylum. Finally, it is concluded by saying there are two lunatics pretending to be
a king and the other trying to kill this imaginary king (301). Both of these char-
acters just made up in writing a story from this madman who even says, “I may
huddle and groan in a madhouse” (301).
Ping Pong might not be the first thing people think of when discussing pos-
sible outcomes of a book, however with Pale Fire, the amount of back and forth
that happens along with no interpretation being a clear-cut winner goes to show
how relatable it really can be. Some may think Team Madman shouldn’t have
won this tournament, and some do. But how can you really beat a crazy person?
This Team won today due to the fact that they created any rules they wanted,
they had as many teammates as they wanted, and they chose who beat who.
Which poses the question, was this even a real tournament? Or just another cra-
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