How we cite our quotes: (Part.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I have already by implication described this 'reportage' as a work of art. I do not of course by this mean a work of fantasy. All art deals with the absurd and aims at the simple. Good art speaks truth, indeed is truth, perhaps the only truth. I have endeavoured in what follows to be wisely artful and artfully wise, and to tell truth as I understand it, not only concerning the superficial and 'exciting' aspects of this drama, but also concerning what lies deeper. (Bradley Pearson's Foreword: par. 1)
Is Bradley Pearson's claim to have told the truth as he understands it enough to make you trust his version of events, or does it make you want to read his story with an extra grain of salt?
Quote #2
The elementary need to render a truthful account of what has been so universally falsified and misrepresented is the ordinary motive for this enterprise: and to tell of a wonder which has thus far remained secret. (Bradley Pearson's Foreword: par. 4)
What "wonder" is Bradley Pearson referring to in this passage, and why (in your opinion) has he chosen to reveal it?
Quote #3
[…] Francis belongs to that sad crew of semi-educated theorizers who prefer any general blunted 'symbolic' explanation to the horror of confronting a unique human history. Francis wanted to 'explain' me. In my moment of fame, a number of other and much cleverer people attempted this also. But any human person is infinitely more complex than this type of explanation. By 'infinitely' (or should I say 'almost infinitely'? Alas I am no philosopher) I mean that there are not only more details, but more kinds of details with more kinds of relations than these diminishers can dream of. (Bradley Pearson's Foreword: par. 7)
This won't be the last time that Bradley Pearson's words in The Black Prince echo lines from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Here, as Bradley comments on the nuance that's needed in order to represent human nature truthfully, he echoes Prince Hamlet's remark that "There are more things in heaven and earth […] / than are dreamt of in our philosophy" (Act 1, Scene 5).