Guildeneye Trivia Quiz

Answer: "The Great Gatsby", by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Skulking up the mansion's driveway, you recall the voice of jouen58 as he explained the motif's significance over a meal: "Nick Carraway, the narrator, describes the billboard near the beginning of Chapter II: 'The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic- their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose.' The sign, once posted by an optician, overlooks the dismal Queens neighborhood where Myrtle Wilson, mistress of Carraway's friend Tom Buchanan, lives with her ineffectual husband George, a car mechanic. It also bears silent, sightless witness to Myrtle's tragic death in a hit-and-run accident. After her death, Wilson points out the sign to his friend Michaelis and solemnly declares 'God sees everything'. Michaelis deflatingly replies 'That's an advertisement'.

"Some have speculated that the sign represents the all-seeing eyes of God, but the exchange between Wilson and Michaelis indicates that Fitzgerald's God is a disinterested one at best. Certainly, there is no divine justice in the novel's denouement: a distraught Wilson forces Tom at gunpoint to name the owner of the death car. Tom names Gatsby, neglecting to mention that his wife Daisy was actually the driver. Wilson shoots Gatsby, then turns the gun on himself; the reprehensible Buchanans, who are jointly responsible for the three deaths, entirely escape the consequences of their actions.

"Incidentally, the original cover art for 'The Great Gatsby' also features a disembodied pair of eyes -and lips- staring mournfully over a brightly-lit Coney Island carnival. The eyes belong to Daisy; a single green teardrop (or is it a firework?) falls from one of them. The cover was by artist Francis Cugat (brother of bandleader Xavier Cugat) and may actually have suggested the symbolic element featured in the novel."

Answer: Eye of the Tiger

"Eye of the Tiger" spent six weeks at Billboard's number one. Though Survivor had some other hits, they didn't survive very long, breaking up in 1989.

You've listened to the hit song with ertrum a hundred times at least at Headquarters, and you're humming the tune under your breath as you take advantage of the deliveryman's diversion to slip in through a window.

Answer: She never married, never had children and never ran a school for the blind.

"Mary Ingalls (1865 - 1928) suffered a stroke at the age of 14 and the damage eventually stole her vision completely," you remember Gatsby722 telling you as you discussed individuals most famous for their eyesight over a memorable pot of Turkish coffee one cold night. "Before that time she was a normal, healthy girl.

Her sister's books changed things a little, changing the stroke to scarlet fever; the show changed things a lot. They gave the character a dashing handsome husband, likewise blind (at least for a while), and they both became teachers at a school for non-seeing youngsters. That never happened in actuality.

She did attend the Iowa School For The Blind in Vinton from the age of 16 until 24 but never was an educator nor did she ever marry.

After completing her studies she returned home to live with her parents until their deaths at which time she lived with her sisters until she passed away in 1928. Clearly, her 'real' life would not have packed the dramatic punch that her TV one did. Miss Ingalls's true story would have been a little too depressing to view, I suppose."

Answer: Tapetum lucidum

MotherGoose had explained it all back at Headquarters, when the receptionist was upset at the poor quality of her cat photos. "The tapetum lucidum (Latin for "bright carpet") is a thin reflective membrane behind the retina that acts like a mirror," she explained, "causing the eye to shine in the dark.

It occurs in many nocturnal animals, notably cats and dogs. Its function is to enhance night vision. It only occurs in one group of humans - the Aboriginal people of Australia. The presence of the tapetum lucidum is the reason why it is almost impossible to get a decent flash photo of your cat or dog without the "green" or "gold" eye effect.

When taking flash photographs of humans, the annoying "red eye" effect is caused by reflection of the blood vessels in the retina."

Answer: Because eyeteeth erupt with the coming of "young adulthood", the teeth represent wisdom.

You make a note to tell your findings to uglybird, who is fond of trading etymological speculations. "One's eyeteeth are the canines directly under one's eyes," he once told you as you birdwatched together from the Headquarters roof, "and, according to "Randomhouse.com", might have been considered symbolic of the wisdom that comes with young adulthood, a notion that parents of "young adults" might at times find difficult to credit.

The other answers do include bits of factual information. "Aye" did perhaps derive from a word meaning always. "Eyet" is an alternative spelling for "eyot" and means "island". Finally, a real 9th century Norse Earl was named "Eystein Glumra Ivarrson". Eystein's subjects did (one hopes affectionately) refer to as "The Noisy".

However, history does not record Eystein's subjects' opinion of his teeth."

Answer: Propertius

Thank goodness for the many hours you spent with pu2-ke-qi-ri at Headquarters, discussing classical poetry (and particularly its relation to geology). Propertius, you remember, is a rather difficult poet to read, thanks to his extensive (some would say excessive) use of mythological references.

"But still, some of his poetry is quite worth reading," pu2-ke-qi-ri insisted, "because of his self-searching and introspective attitude towards his relationship with his lover, Cynthia. His poems are far too long to include in translation here, but let me close with Propertius' own words:

'For me it is right neither to love another nor to desist from this love.
Cynthia was the first, and Cynthia will be the last.'"

You remove the Propertius volume from the bookshelf, and the wall slides back to reveal a cramped passageway.

Answer: Between "A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back"

When the bomb doesn't explode, you breathe a sigh of relief and thank your lucky star

Answer: Bette Davis

Continuing through the passageway, you remember what skunkee told you about this song when she found you listening to it at top volume while doing some training exercises at Headquarters. You'd told her that it was penned by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon, and that "Bette Davis Eyes" was arguably Kim Carnes's biggest hit, winning her the Grammy for Song of the Year. To your delight, skunkee informed you that Davis was reportedly thrilled with the song, and wrote to both Carnes and the songwriters, asking them how they had managed to nail her personality so well.

"Born on April 5, 1908, Davis had a long and exciting career in film," skunkee continued. "She was nominated for an Oscar every year for five years in a row, winning only two of those nominations. She left us on October 6, 1989, succumbing to metastasized breast cancer."

Answer: The peace symbol

"As witness to the power of the eye," Bruyere once told you back at Headquarters, "the origins of all of these symbols have generated many opinions and lately, websites. Some of them are controversial. Nevertheless the peace symbol does not use an eye. Some observers hark back to the Roman times and the sign as an upturned crucifix, therefore anti-Christian. Others, instead of the truly recent symbol created for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1958, see it as the crow's foot or witch's foot symbol and therefore a threat.

"As to the eye symbols, boats in the Mediterranean and throughout Asia paint eyes on the prow of their craft to guarantee smooth sailing. The third eye of Shiva is legendary in Hindu imagery. Then what visitor to the Stupas in Buddhist countries can forget the all seeing eyes of Buddha? Judaism uses the Hand of Hamesh with an eye in the palm of the hand and others use this as well. Many of the cultures around the world feel the need to protect themselves from the evil eye, and the Mediterraneans and Middle Easterners have various methods. One of the notable ones is the blue jewelry in the form of eyes that many people wear. These customs date back to time eternal.

"Then, another eye symbol is the Egyptian's great eye of Horus on the Great Seal of the USA found on the one dollar bill atop a pyramid. This is yet another controversial symbol because of its association with Masonic symbols. Others see anti-Christian associations in this symbol. In any case, the eye is one of the most powerful symbols throughout world history."

Making a mental note to thank Bruyere, and avoiding the door marked "Peace symbol," you try a knob ...

Answer: Rene Descartes

You once had a long discussion about philosophy with gretas in some downtime between blues sets at Headquarters. "French philosopher Rene Descartes is perhaps best known for the proclamation 'I think, therefore I am,'" she told you. "His interest in science and mathematics was equaled by his passion for spiritual study, which led him to a strong bias in favor of 'dualism.' In 1589, Queen Christina of Sweden invited the venerated thinker to her country, where shortly after his arrival, he died as a result of his low resistance to the cold."

Cautiously, you slide the Descartes tract open and photograph Guildeneye's diabolical memo. Skimming quickly, you perceive the vileness of his plan: from a satellite in low-Earth orbit, he will perform laser eye surgery on every man, woman, and child on Earth, not to improve their vision but to worsen it. This way, he will ensure the success of his designer eyewear business. How dreadful! It's a good thing that you've got his plans and can now warn the world. Good work, Secret Agent!