Cryptonomicon discussion

***SPOILERIFIC!***
In the WWII storyline, Enoch Root dies in Sweden, right? But he comes back towards the end in Manila. Does he die in Sweden? Does he come back to life? Is it another Enoch Root in Manila?

Does it really matter? From literary point of view Enoch is a device to keep complicated plot anchored. Deus ex machine.

He is secondary to the plot and to ideas NS wanted to present. That's why I think it doesn't matter much.

But wild theories abound, pick your favorite:
http://www.cafeaulait.org/systemofthe...
http://baroquecycle.wikia.com/wiki/En...
- ET
- immortal
- time traveler
- AI or hivemind gestalt
- in the time loop ('Baroque *cycle*' after all)
- it's a title for somebody chosen as an avatar (a-la Dalai-lama)
- hereditary (family of Roots, with Enoch in every generation)

I had assumed his death was faked & I just missed the clues. Maybe I need to reread what happen in Sweden.
Could also be the son from the shotgun wedding in Finland.

I thought that the end of the Baroque Cycle made it relatively clear: Root has the elixir vitae, which is what prevented Jack from dying. Root uses it on himself, therefore he is immortal.

Edit to add: so if he "died" in Sweden, he was brought back with the use of the elixir vitae

I thought it was pretty clear that he "died" though it's not clear as it claims he died.. But the man underneath the blanket was clearly him escaping from the marriage.

The son from the shotgun wedding is Charlene's friend G. B. E. Kristivik (I think it is spelled). Remember he was was named Gunter, after Bischof, Bobby, after Shaftoe, and Enoch after Root. I think the death scene in Sweden was a fake. It was made to look like he died so the Nazis would not continue to look for him. I think he had made some sort of agreement with Gunter and Rudy and Olaf (not Olaf I know but Julie's uncle) about how they would use of the gold. I do not think this is the same person as in the Baroque Cycle (maybe a dynasty of Enochs) but it is the same person bot WWII and present. He is very mysterious though.

One other thing; do you know that in the Bible, Enoch doesn't die. He gets taken straight to Heaven before he dies, so he is immortal.

I think the author is having a pun and play on the name, Enoch is immortal. And his second name is Root..(in equations the root is the solution to a mathematical equation). And we all know how much mathematics means to the book.

deleted user wrote: "I thought that the end of the Baroque Cycle made it relatively clear: Root has the elixir vitae, which is what prevented Jack from dying. Root uses it on himself, therefore he is immortal.

Edit t..."
Prevented Newton from dying, surely?