The Passenger

The novel takes on this theme from multiple perspectives. For one thing, the novel explores the intersection between math and physics. There is much discussion of the theory of relativity and how there is a general symmetry to existence. There is also much discussion of discrete mathematics. For example, Bobby Western points out that “A point devoid of physical being leaves you with location. And a location without reference to some other location cant be expressed” (148). In other words, one thing needs another to exist. Bobby continues, saying, “There is no such thing as information in and of itself independent of the apparatus necessary to its perception” (148). In this case, there is no objective reality that exists without someone observing it. The narrator says, “There were no starry skies prior to the first sentient and ocular being to behold them. Before that all was blackness and silence” (149). This idea asserts that we cannot assume that the sky, the stars, or the moon always existed. Whatever happened before the initial observation cannot be verified. Therefore, reality begins with the observer and not the thing being observed.

The nature of reality affects the human condition.