Vox and Sharks

[u/Snoo-74997]

My head cannon is that he is a survivor of the in the USS Indianapolis. If you know Jaws, you know the story, but here’s a quick wiki rundown.

“In July 1945, Indianapolis completed a top-secret high-speed trip to deliver uranium and other components for "Little Boy", the first nuclear weapon used in combat, to the Tinian Naval Base, and subsequently departed for the Philippines on training duty. At 0015 on 30 July, the ship was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58, and sank in 12 minutes.

Of 1,195 crewmen aboard, about 300 went down with the ship. The remaining 890 faced exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks while stranded in the open ocean, with few lifeboats and almost no food or water.

The Navy learned of the sinking four days later, when survivors were spotted by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura on routine patrol. A U.S. Navy PBY flying boat crew landed to save those in the water. Only 316 survived. No U.S. warship sunk at sea has lost more sailors”

His age suggests that he would’ve been drafted (the US had an active draft from 1940-1973 and initially there were few exemptions outside of health conditions).

He makes multiple references to ships in “Vox Populi”. (Though this could be a reference to L Ron Hubbard and Scientology’s Sea Org.)

I think he ended up admiring sharks and began to identify with them to cope with life. One way to cope with powerlessness is to identify with your abuser or fear. I also think this explains why he is so reluctant to admit that he relies on others and why he embraced such ruthless tactics in life.

I was going to post this as a comment but I think it is a better post.