Maxwell Demon Machine

To Read the novel in comparison to the Maxwell Demon Machine:

The Maxwell Demon, as described by Koteks is “a tiny intelligence…[it] sat and sorted” (68). The Maxwell Demon system itself, “you wouldn’t have put any real work into,” Koteks explained (68). When described, the machine is misleading in context, “the Nefastis Machine contained an honest-to-God Maxwell’s Demon” (68). However, how can something be “honest-to-Go” when numerous individuals have no faith in such an omnipotent presence? When compared to reading the novel itself, no individual can believe there is an absolute truth to be found and understood, if there is no possibility of an absolute truth to exist.

It is explained “two fields [that] were entirely unconnected, except at one point: Maxwell’s Demon” (84). The Maxwell Demon acts as a tissue that connects two different entities or thoughts. By connecting two entirely different ideologies or “fields,” the Maxwell Demon acts as the small symbols and information dribbled throughout the novel that connects one moment to another. The novel, in context, is in fractions. These fractions need to be connected by something otherwise they would stand-alone and have no possibility of any meaning or use. When reading the novel, we, as the audience, act as the sorter. We must separate the fast and slow molecules, or pieces of information, to determine what is valid, important and vital to our understanding. Although the system “was said to lose entropy,” or information, it was “offset by the information the Demon gained” (84). This mimics readers as we lose information, or get lost in the novel, but new information is gained as the novel progresses.

“One little movement, against all that massive complex of information” is all a reader needs to begin new understandings, or quests for truth while reading the novel. One small movement, or piece of information, is enough to bait readers to want to know, understand, and seek truth.

The novel in itself, like the Maxwell Demon machine, is misleading. Readers want a truth to exist, or want the Maxwell Demon to exist, but it is entirely possible that no truth or Demon exists in the novel. We, as readers, are led to believe the Demon does exist if noticed by sensitive individuals. But how are we to know of its true existence, if we cannot devote all of our senses to seek out the demon, if we must focus on another image.

“’Watch the picture,’ said Nefastis, ‘and concentrate on a cylinder. Don’t worry. If you’re sensitive you’ll know which one. Leave your mind open, receptive to the Demon’s message…’” (85). This quote epitomizes readers’ process of reading the novel. We as readers must leave our minds open to the possibilities, but our mind can be clouded by the façade of what we believe is to be the essence of the novel. We must seek information, not truth, we must never devote ourselves to one want or we will not gain any understanding in the novel at all.