The Power of a Hive Mind in the "The Rook"
In the novel, The Rook, by Daniel O’Malley, it is shown that loyalty is often shirked in the process of gaining power and wealth; morals become a malleable entity and are sacrificed at the whims of desire. Gestalt, a rook from the UK’s government organization, Checquy, can be described as a monster in several different ways including appearance, abilities, and in lack of honor or morals.
Gestalt (O’Malley, 50-52) is a mind-boggling character in that it has four bodies all operating with one mind seamlessly at the same time. They can simultaneously hold conversations, fight, sleep and function all at once, and draw brainpower from all bodies at once, resulting in faster reaction time than the average member of the Checquy.
The origins and reproduction of this monster are puzzling indeed. A regular, human mother gave birth to four children but it was very quickly realized these children were not normal. In the beginning, it could not separately control itself so all four children would do the same thing at the same time. The parents were quick to give the children to the government because they were abnormal; they excelled at everything thrown at them by the government and once they graduated from the Estate (the school for supernatural, and the different) they quickly gained title of Rook.
The reproduction of this monster is sordid to say the least. By incestuous means, a baby is born and the mind then splits again into the new body, rendering them essentially immortal, though not invincible. It can be killed like any other being, though with their heightened abilities, it is proven difficult to thwart it enough to catch it by surprise. The only way to stop reproduction is to kill the female body, which meant no more babies could be made. Once the existing bodies died, that was it.
Gestalt’s bodies include two identical male twins, and another boy and girl, and their identity is an interesting mix because it is a chimera of sorts; it is both male and female at the same time, and each can act on their own while being directed by the same mind. This is philosophically interesting because it is four singular beings all at once in one person. It is not possible in the real world because something cannot be 100% one thing, and 100% another in the same body, and yet we have four beings able to act differently under one mind.
Gestalt can be thought of as a monster because it abandons the cause of keeping the country safe in lieu of its’ own personal gain. When confronted with its’ betrayal of the country, Gestalt immediately shows he is not above killing his own and participating in treasonous actions to move himself ahead. Through means of violence, deception, and cunning, Gestalt displays attributes of evil quite clearly, and is most definitely a monster to be reckoned with in the novel, The Rook.
[WORKS CITED]
O’Malley, Daniel. The rook. Sydney, N.S.W., HarperCollins Publishers Australia, 2016