Turing reconciles somewhat with his mother, learns in reunion with Pat that Knox
may have been homosexual, …
Further understanding of Turing
Some acceptance or recognition of how society constrains him, e.g., his comments to
Pat about “I should have played by the rules,” yet recognizing that he
couldn’t have
Also some regret in Turing’s words to Pat, and much more so in his final words
to Nikos in scene 7
More insight into Turing’s romantic life
Valuing passion over comfort in his words to Knox may reflect his memories of
his short but emotionally fulfilling time with Christopher Morcom
His recollections of his night with Ron in scene 4 show him trying to
establish an intellectual as well as an emotional connection
Contrast to his affair with Nikos, with whom he can’t even speak
Why does Turing kill himself?
Some commentators blame depression brought on by the drug treatment he was
subjected to, but Whitemore doesn’t show a lot of evidence of depression
beyond Turing’s regret for his past at Bletchley Park
Whitemore portrays it more as an experiment to see if consciousness exists without
a body, when other prospects of living the kind of life Turing wants are gone
Next
Library instruction re evaluating online sources
Meet in Milne 104
Charles Babbage
Difference engine and analytical engine
Vigenère cipher
Next Tuesday
Turing and his contributions to math, computer science, etc.