Popular Culture Review 29.2
hauer ’ s answer is the same as Ishmael ’ s : ‘ Nature is unfathomable because we seek after causes and consequences in a realm where this form is not to be found ... merely the form under which our intellect comprehends appearance , i . e ., the surface of things ’ ( 1970 : 57 )” ( 28 ). While Pritchard ’ s work here primarily considers Schopenhauer ’ s theories against an analysis of Moby Dick , the ideas prove striking in their relevance to the Dishonored series and The Outsider , both of which are largely concerned with whales . The Outsider never seeks to be understood and never justifies his actions , the motivations behind which are his alone .
The Outsider ’ s true nature is not presented in a definitive fashion , and he himself is cagey about the details of his life and the nature of his being . He takes the form of a young man , perhaps in his twenties or slightly younger , with black eyes , and his spirit crosses at will between the Void and the real world . He seems keenly interested in issues of social inequity , oppression , and environmental decimation , especially as they relate to whales . In Dishonored 2 , he claims to have been a human sacrificed by a mysterious group , although this proves to be a problematical account in that this game heavily implies that his true identity�the life he lived before he was “ sacrificed ” �was originally that of a whale . He remembers ,
It ’ s the place where my throat was cut 4000 years ago . This is where my life ended and where it began again . It ’ s where they made me . Right up until the end , I thought I would find a way to escape . I fought but the ropes only cut my skin , so I went limp . And then the knife touched my throat and I knew I ’ d waited too long . The blood ran out and I became a god .
58