Serface the Ape (w/ correction)

Today we met another private eye named Walter Serface. Mr. Serface is a special kind of being, in that he is an evolved ape. It was this fact that made me wonder if, again, there was some significant meaning to Mr. Serface having the name service and being and evolved ape. Also I wonder if this relationship will continue to be or prove to be a significant one through the end of Lethem’s novel.

I began to wonder what qualities or characteristics a typical ape may have that would lend to being a successful or quality private eye. An ape is relatively quick, definitely strong; but neither of these things seems to be needed all too much to be a quality detective. However in writing this, it just dawned on me, that at some point during Metcalf and Walter’s conversation, Walter said that he was hired by either Stanhunt or Phoneblum, as the muscle. This makes more sense; while I do not believe this partnership worked out to well, as Serface was evidently shot by Phoneblum’s kangaroo. However this would in theory be the best purpose for Surface to serve; one of muscle and strength, maybe he was best at intimidating information out of people, allowing him to do his job well.

The third aspect of the introduction of this Walter Surfacece character was: does his name have any significance? Last night I wrote about the possibility of the names in Lethem’s novel having some significant meaning. The same notion can be applied to Walter Services name. Specifically Service; Metcalf learns quite a bit about Celeste; about her alleged affair at the same hotel as Mr. Stanhunts murder, as well a bit of further information that helps Metcalf to better understand Phoneblum. In obtaining this information from Service, one could say that he did a “service” for Metcalf; he helped him to stay alive in this case, to actually have something good to go on. Metcalf even says to him that he owes him one. So I believe it will be interesting to see if this brief meeting of Walter will be the only or if his “services” are needed down the road and what this character means to the overall work.

***When writing my post I was not at home or near my book so I may have been a little mistaken as to what the apes name was as I worked from memory. However with that said, I still believe that the first two paragraphs are relevant and legititmate question/ queries. And a far as his name goes, may it still is significant; maybe Walter is more important character or has some bigger significance than what we see on the surface. Maybe on the surface he is a big strong ape, maybe he is not all that strong, maybe it means nothing at all. I guess we'll see.

-Brad