The Prisoner – It’s A Personal Struggle!

    ‘The Prisoner’ struggles to maintain his identity in a Village where names are not permitted, and people are known only by their numbers. He’s not a number, he’s a person, but not very personable, meaning not very pleasing in personality. Number 6 likes to keep himself to himself, he prefers his own company to that of others. That’s not to say he does not interact with other citizens, because no man is an island. Number 6 cannot survive without the community, but the community can survive without him! Yes he has acquaintances, he doesn’t have friendships or relationships, well not in The Village. Possibly the reason for that is, few of the main citizens that Number 6 has contact with remain in The Village for more than one episode in order to allow friendships and relationships to develop, even if Number 6 wanted them to! Generally Number 6 keeps people at arms length, perhaps because it’s difficult to know who to trust, if its possible to trust anyone in The Village.
   He does strike up something of a rapport with Number 2 during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben,’ but by the end of ‘The Schizoid Man’ he has been betrayed by 5 women, I’m not counting the doctor-Number 14! And it would be interesting to know how Number 6 came to be helping Alison with her mind reading! Monique came looking for Number 6’s help, but you couldn’t describe them as friends, only as confederates in the same cause, as Number 12 was in ‘The General.’ It could be said that Number 6 was only affected really by, and at the same time regretted, the death of Number 2, this by his show of emotion when he smashed the glass. Perhaps it was as Number 2 said of Number 6, “I’m beginning to like him,” if Number 6 could like anyone in The Village, and for Number 6 ‘Once Upon A Time’ had became a personal struggle!

Be seeing you