Who is Jonny Rokeby? Part 3: Puppet or Puppeteer? By ChrisC

In the previous two posts of this five part series (see here and here to catch up), I’ve been examining the character of Jonny Rokeby based on a careful reading of the clues provided by J.K. Rowling from a specific scene in The Silkworm, her second Cormoran Strike novel, in which the rock star appears. Not in person — just a photograph on the wall in which he is pictured with Duke Ellington and other music legends.

So far, I’ve been willing to trust my judgment calls in terms of the subtle hints and clues the author has been willing to give us in a photograph prominently displayed in that scene.  I can see Rokeby as a Doctor Faustus stand-in. When it comes to the figure of Mephistopheles, though, the other key figure in Marlowe’s drama, I feel obliged to be more cautious. 

It has been speculated by John Granger here at HogwartsProfessor.com and on the ‘Reading, Writing, Rowling’ podcasts at MuggleNet that Rokeby, though he has yet to appear in person in the first three books, is meant to be the Big Bad of the Strike series. The prevalent theory is that Rokeby is responsible for the murder of Leda Strike and possibly for the explosion that took away the leg of his own son in a failed attempt on C.B. Strike’s life in Afghanistan.

Why? Leda knew something that the rock star doesn’t want known and Rokeby assumes she told her oldest boy this secret before her death (or that Strike is clever enough to learn himself when investigating his mum’s mysterious demise). John has even suggested that Rokeby may not really be Corm’s daddy but that he accepted paternity to buy Leda’s non-disclosure.

This could all be true, and if so, then perhaps this essay isn’t strictly necessary.  However, I am working the assumption in this series that Ms. Rowling means for us to see Rokeby as a Faust figure.  This character type can be portrayed as Prof. Moriarty is in the Sherlock Holmes stories; Marlowe’s Faustus is both well learned and a conniver.  However, a problem starts up once the character of Mephistopheles is introduced into the mix.

Please join me after the jump for my attempt to tackle the puzzle of just how Rowling may portray the principal villain: as a puppet or as puppeteer?

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Who is Jonny Rokeby? Part 2: The Icarus Theme (For Part 1, click here)

By ChrisC

I am operating under the assumption that J.K. Rowling means us to see Jonny Rokeby, rock star and father of Cormoran Strike, as an analogue of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus.  To understand my reasoning for this, please consult two previous essays, which can be found here and here.

There are at least three more facets to the character in relation to Marlowe’s text.  Exploring these facets could help gain an understanding both of how Rowling might portray Rokeby and how we are meant to see him when he first walks onstage.  Join me after the jump as we examine a trait that Papa Rock might share with a boy who couldn’t fly.

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Who is Jonny Rokeby? Marlowe’s Faustus and the Cormoran Strike Mysteries

A HogwartsProfessor Guest Post by ChrisC, Part 1 of 5

In a previous HogwartsProfessor guest post, I pointed out how Rowling left little textual clues as to the nature of detective Cormoran Strike’s supposed biological father, rock star Jonny Rokeby, lead singer of The Deadbeats.  What I didn’t consider was that in addition to a hidden symbolism behind the trio of Duke Ellington, Robert Plant, and William Blake, there was in fact a fourth level of significance to the scene where Strike ponders a photo of his dear old dad in a booth of the Albion Restaurant (The Silkworm, p 213/303)

The name of this unseen fourth symbol is Christopher Marlowe, and what I now realize is the exact literary echo Rowling leaves behind in the scene between Strike and the picture of his dad.  I’d like to suggest that once we dig up this hidden fourth symbol, and explore its thematic importance, we will have a final clue to exact nature of Jonny Rokeby, as well as a major clue as to how may be portrayed when he makes his onstage debut within the series.

Join me after the jump, won’t you, as we unpack the hidden message of “The Fourth Man.”

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