Bombyx mori

Bombyx Mori, translated from the Latin as Silkworm, which is writer Owen Quine's latest novel symbolizes the agonies the writer has to go through "to get at the good stuff" (404). Strike's assistant Robin explains that to get the silk from the silkworms, they "[b]oil them alive so that they don't damage their cocoons by bursting out of them. It's the cocoons that are made of silk" (48).

His agent Liz Tassel calls the book "a Gothic fairy tale, a grisly Pilgram's Progress" (60) with characters who seemed mostly symbolic, including a hagiographic self-portrait. She sent a copy of the manuscript off to Jerry Waldegrave, Owen's editor at Roper Chard, and another copy to Christian Fisher, the founder of Crossfire Publishing.

The Metal Rod

The metal rod that serves as Striker's lower right leg symbolizes the bravery, for which he was decorated, and his ability to persevere...