William Wilson

After reading the interview with Paul Auster, it was interesting to note that Quinn's pseudonym was taken from Edgar Allen Poe's short story, "William Wilson." I immediately re-read the story and I found many similarities between William Wilson and Quinn. (For those of you who haven't read the tale, "William Wilson," the narrator William Wilson explains how from the time he entered grade school until his ultimate death, a man by the same name, of the same stature, the same date of birth, etc. is ruining his life. Every scheme he creates, Wilson destroys. The two Wilson's become so blurred in the text, that it is difficult to tell which is which.)

The first line of the tale begins "Let me call myself, for the present, William Wilson" (p.1). From the onset, the reader knows that this name, William Wilson, is not the narrator's real name, just like the reader knows that Quinn's real name is not William Wilson. Both authors of their own tales, the two create a false identity to hide behind. Page 3, panels 2 through 6, introduce William Wilson in Auster's "City of Glass." "He now wrote mystery novels under the name of William Wilson. Quinn no longer existed for anyone but himself" (p.3 5-6). It is clear that the only interaction Quinn has had with anyone since his death was with the Stillman's. Yet, the Stillman case does not help Quinn recover from his isolated state, but makes him sink deeper and deeper into it (See p. 108-113).

Likewise, after the narrator Wilson learns that the other Wilson is really just himself. He states, "You have conquered, and I yield. Yet, henceforward art thou also dead - dead to the World, to Heaven, and to hope! In me didst thou exist - and, in my death, see by this image, which is thine own, how utterly thou hast murdered thyself" (p.22). Just as Quinn's obsession with the Stillman's has caused his own death. I believed Quinn murdered himself long before he met the Stillmans. His obsession with death is apparent within the first few pages of the novel. He writes under a false name. He has no family or relations with other people. At the end of the graphic novel, Quinn quite literally yields to the darkness. Likewise, Wilson's obsession with the other Wilson leads to his assumed death.

In the graphic novel, "City of Glass," and the tale of "William Wilson," there is a blurring between reality and perception. The reality of "City of Glass" is that the tale ended long before Quinn knew it was over. His perception of things is so off that he continues the story even after the apartment is long empty and forgotten. Wilson is the same. He does not realize that the other Wilson is something he created in his mind. Quinn and Wilson are creators of their own tales and likewise their own skewed realities.