“Damien’s theory of jet lag is correct: that her mortal soul is leagues behind her, being reeled in on some ghostly umbilical down the vanished wake of the plane that brought her here, hundreds of thousands of feet above the Atlantic. Souls can’t move that quickly, and are left behind, and must be awaited, upon arrival, like lost luggage” Gibson, 2).

This theory of jet lag seems important to Cayce because it comes up again on page 63. This passage occurs at the very beginning of the novel so it is a reader’s first look into Cayce’s mind and personality. In this theory of jet lag, there are many obscure descriptions, such as “ghostly”, “umbilical”, and “luggage”. To describe a soul be “reeled in on some ghostly umbilical” is to give the description of the soul being reborn. An umbilical cord is what connects a baby to their mother and is then cut after birth. The umbilical is described as “ghostly” giving it the assumption that it cannot be seen. Taking these two descriptions, Damien’s theory is basically saying that every time you are on a plane, and enter a new time zone, you are automatically being reborn. Stepping onto the plane is when your “ghostly umbilical” is cut and you become separated from your soul. This is where Damien’s description of “lost luggage” comes into play. After you step off of a plane, you wait in anticipation for your luggage to come around the carousel. Very few people, each flight, are left standing around with no luggage because of the airline losing it. In terms of replacing luggage with souls, you would feel completely lost and empty without one, and you would just be dragging yourself along each day in hopes that you will soon be reunited.  I think that this theory goes much deeper than jet lag because I believe this theory is more of a description of Cayce herself. Cayce’s “ghostly umbilical” would have to be Blue Ant. Everything she does, she does for that company because that is where she is employed. Still being attached to Blue Ant means that Cayce still has her soul intact. However, her soul is seems to be lacking fulfillment, especially when she discovers that Dorotea is messing with her.

Because this passage mainly has to do with the feeling of jet leg, I decided to add this photo, which gives an actual description and definition of jet lag, rather than a made up theory. I did think it was interesting that this photo gives the description of jet lag once being viewed as a “state of mind” because I think that is what Damien’s theory can be viewed as.

 

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(The picture may not be showing up. If that’s the case, I just took a screenshot of this http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/jet-lag-and-sleep)