Speculative Interlude: The Greek Letter Chi in TTOTC

[Jeff]

I've gone back to TTOTC as Jack and, earlier, Fenn had suggested.  The book is a mouthful!  I'll have more on thoughts upon returning to TTOTC later.

But first, some speculation on a possible motif: the Greek letter chi.  Have you noticed this?  Have my thoughts wandered too far?  How clever do you think Fenn was in writing TTOTC?

I believe Fenn was extremely clever and dedicated an immense amount of effort creating TTOTC.  One might even call the effort overkill.  I rate my overall thoughts on chi within TTOTC as "more likely than not" but definitely not anywhere close to "beyond a reasonable doubt."  I have more confidence that Fenn used it as a creative device in TTOTC than that it has anything to do with the treasure hunt.  I have very little confidence in the ideas in the paragraph labelled with an asterisk.

First a quick comment on an aspect of TTOTC.  Fenn's two near death experiences in TTOTC—his literal rescue after being shot down in Laos and his more metaphorical rescue after falling ill with kidney cancer—are major turning points in the memoir.  These will be key in the discussion of chi.  Recall Fenn's admiration of Salinger and his book The Catcher in the Rye.  In the two near death experiences in TTOTC he was "caught" as he fell over the metaphorical cliff between life and death; in the former by the Air Rescue Team and in the latter by his family "team."  Recall also that Fenn casts himself as a continuation of Salinger’s Holden Caulfield from that book and, in this role, the treasure hunt of TTOTC is Fenn acting as a kind of "catcher" for himself—he will not be forgotten after death, he will live on in the form of memory and durable mementos.  These three ideas—being shot down in Vietnam, getting kidney cancer, and his treasure hunt—are central to his memoir.

Both near death "catches" can be speculatively related to the letter "X" and the related Greek letter "chi."  An "X" is typographically and historically related to the Greek letter "chi" which is typographically "Χ" and pronounced /kaɪ/ (e.g. like the beginning of "kite") or /kiː/ (e.g. like "key") in English.  Fenn's two near death experiences in TTOTC are related to the letter or pronunciation of chi: in My War for Me he was shot down while bombing the "Ho Chi Min Trail" (emphasis added) (p.83) near "Tchepone, Laos" (emphasis added) (p.82) (also written as Chapon, Xépôn, and Sepon and having a pronunciation close to "she"/"chi") and in Ode to Peggy Jean he was incapacitated when "invasive cells came into [his] body and took a kidney" (emphasis added) (p.141).   Of note, the illustration of a bombing run in My War for Me (p.99), presumably the one in which he was shot down given the presence of guns on a cliff, shows two bombs with an "x"-like arrangement to the drag vanes.  These episodes, and in particular the latter, were possibly the "kid (emphasis added) from Important Literature that Fenn "didn't like at all" who got his "self confidence" "really down at bottom" by giving him "a copy of Kismet" (emphasis added) (p.13), an oddly obscure reference whose title appropriately means fate.

Regarding the "clues in [his] poem," Fenn said "only a few are in tight focus with a word that is key" (emphasis added) (Mysterious Writings Six Questions 2/4/2014).   If TTOTC is Fenn playing Holden Caulfield’s role as a catcher in the rye and Fenn’s two near death experience "catches" were "X" or chi related, we can speculate as to whether this "key" is the letter "X" or chi.  Is "X"/chi relevant to the treasure hunt like it seems to be related to his two near death experiences?

At the conclusion of Gold and More immediately following the poem puzzle, Fenn states that he "dreamed the other night that I had been reincarnated as Captain Kidd" (p.133).  When asked about his familiarity with other treasure hunts, Fenn draws attention to pirate treasures: "I have read only about treasures that were hidden by pirates, and I wish I could find one of those" (Mysterious Writings Featured Question 3/10/2015).  Fenn's answer to that question, his choice of Captain Kidd, and his multiple statements regarding maps raises the possibility of the stereotype, a fictional element popularized by Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, of treasure maps on which an "X" marks the hidden treasure chest.  Elsewhere, Fenn remarks to "look at the poem as if it were a map, because it is, and like any other map, it will show you where to go if you follow its directions" (Mysterious Writings Featured Question 5/4/2017), to read "the poem like you were going to put an X on a map" (Mysterious Writings Featured Question 2/23/2016), to "put an X on the map so everyone will know where the treasure is hidden" (Forrest Gets Mail - 15), and, in an interview referenced in Scrapbook 42, "the map shows the area in which the treasure is hidden...but there's not X on it" (Margie Goldsmith Huffington Post Interview 9/17/2013).

An "X" is the only letter of the alphabet not found in the Gold and More poem; that is, it is not only figuratively missing as implied in the Featured Question above but also literally missing.  Given this missing "X" and in light of the relationship to "chi" explored above, then significance can be imbued to Fenn's reference to "Captain Kidd" (emphasis added) (p.133) that immediately follows the Gold and More poem; that is, this particular pirate also contains in his name the concept of the Greek letter chi.  That "Captain Kidd" is a pirate furthers the image because a stereotypical pirate treasure map contains an "X" that marks a hidden treasure chest.  As the "X" is central to his near death experiences and as he originally "plotted to have [his] bones rest forever, in silent repose, beside the treasure chest" (p.143), this could explain why dreaming of Captain Kidd "scared [him] so badly" (p.133): it is associated with his death.

** Much more speculatively, the curiously absent Scrapbook 32 might be a reference to The Hardy Boys Book 32 The Crisscross Shadow.  This speculation would require some degree of coordination between Dal and Fenn, which introduces yet more complications; recall that Dal's comments on this scrapbook's absence were anomalous.  Of uncertain provenance and time frame, Dal says Fenn advised to "bring a flashlight and a sandwich" (Tips from Forrest) when searching for the treasure chest; the actual timing of the quote is unknown but it appeared in a post on 4/3/2013 at the latest and the missing Scrapbook 32 should have been posted on 4/7/2013.  In some books of the series, the Hardy boys are advised to take a sandwich and they often bring a flashlight with them on their adventures; however, as a counterpoint, this advice is not found in The Crisscross Shadow.  The location of a hidden treasure in The Crisscross Shadow is indicated by an "X"-like cross formed from the shadow of two rocks.  Finally, recall that Fenn clarifies that the treasure chest is hidden in "the Rocky Mountains at least 8 miles north of Santa Fe" (Forrest Gets Mail - 8).  Lastly, the first word of "Rocky Mountains" can be read as "rock" "key" or "rock" "chi," and hence "rock" "X." **

In summary: "X" or the Greek letter chi can be associated with the three "catches" that are central to TTOTC as a memoir.  This speculation hasn't helped me discover the solution, at least yet.  However, I do approach this speculation with with Jack's comment about Fenn's treasure hunt thought process in mind: "his point of reference was pirates!" (Barbarisi Outside Magazine article 12/7/20).

What do you think?  Makes sense?  Incoherent ramblings?  Something?  Nothing?  Does it help frame Fenn's treasure hunt for you in any way?

[goldhunter]

Sorry. I deleted my post. I haven't read any of the books.

[Jeff]

Hi goldhunter, TTOTC is not a bad read, particularly if you have any interest in Fenn.  The writing style is similar to many of the scrapbooks but it tells a more organized story than the individual scrapbooks.  You can probably pick up a used copy pretty cheap now that Jack has found the chest.

[goldhunter]

Thanks, Jeff. Yeah, I'd still read one.

[Jeff]

An additional thought: recall one of the Weekly Words featured on Jenny's site?  Shannon asked about the name on the gravestone in the long forgotten Vietnamese waterfall graveyard.  I added emphasis in bold.

Heck Shannon, you just widened one of my largest fault lines. In my haste to get back to the helicopter and leave that place, my effort was expended trying to remember the inscription, and I repeated it over and over. In that process the soldier’s name was not retained.

All I remember is that his last name had an x in it. Is it strange that I would remember that? But there are no regrets because now he is my personal Unknown Soldier whose lack of identity stands as a metaphor for all men and women who fell in that ugly war and have now faded from our memory. f

Lost graveyard where Fenn found something that led to the answers he sought (more like they were forced on him!).  X marks the spot.  Direct parallel to Fenn's treasure chest / hidden tomb.  The whole idea is possible but nowhere near certain.  If intentional, it is at the very least an ingenious creative embellishment to his TTOTC memoir; I do not know how it would fit into a solution.

[Jeff]

Talking to myself, but here's another one:

On the fold-out map end page of Too Far to Walk: "I declined their invitation to put an X on the map, but will admit that it is there in spirit."

Pirates!

[goldilocks]

Apr 7, 2021 10:50:09 GMT -5 Jeff said:

Talking to myself, but here's another one:

On the fold-out map end page of Too Far to Walk: "I declined their invitation to put an X on the map, but will admit that it is there in spirit."

Pirates!

When Forrest spoke about Eric Sloane in TTOTC he said, "He died two weeks later while standing on a street corner in Manhattan waiting for the light to change." One can assume this was at an intersection. 

[Jeff]

Hi, goldilocks, that's a good one!  Intersection associated with death.  Ho Chi Min trail, kidney cancer, and the treasure chest all associated with death.  (Sorry for the delay, I've been away.)

How about the quote from Business Insider 2/9/2017: "Read the clues in my poem over and over and study maps of the Rocky Mountains. Try to marry the two. The treasure is out there waiting for the person who can make all the lines cross in the right spot" (emphasis added)?

With the image of more than one line crossing fresh in the mind, could the "X" be related to the asterisk/sun/star symbol in TTOTC?  The "chase" was a kind of search for Forrest Fenn, especially as originally designed ("I had even plotted to have my bones rest forever, in silent repose, beside the treasure chest").  The memoir containing the treasure hunt begins with an actual asterisk.  And the author photograph on the book jacket has a Native American feathered sun motif in the background with the lines radiating from Fenn's head.

This brings us back to the idea of the blaze and its K.I.S.S. reference in Looking for Lewis and Clark.  When lost, Fenn applies "mountain man wisdom" (p.61) by determining direction using the sun.  This is an obvious blaze, found wisely, as the poem directs.  Ironically it is the horse Lightning, whose name evokes the idea of a blaze of light, the notion of an "Eureka!" moment, and who has a literal blaze on his head, is the one that directs Fenn and Donnie out of the wilderness.  Not only is it ironic that Fenn and Donnie "very wisely" (p.60) wadded the Forest Service map to make a fire (another kind of blaze) on the first night of their adventure, but it also lends further support to that the asterisk/sun/star symbol is associated with localizing information.  Providing further support to this idea, the next line of the poem directs us to "look quickly down, your quest to cease" which is exactly the "mountain man wisdom" that Fenn used.  Fenn was using the sun to find south, which he thought would lead them out of the wilderness.  As southward is conventionally downward on most maps, looking south/down would lead to the end of the quest, which is their misadventure in the Gallatin National Forest and our discovery of the treasure chest (and, by extension, Forrest Fenn).

Fenn was a master of the short story.