Who is the guide?
Manson has confirmed that the Guide is the Minotaur. There are many clues to his identity littered through out the book, including a trail of clues (perhaps involving trefoils or references to Cerberus), and the “Easter Egg” described below.
Title Page:
The Key-Stone: The key points us to the the key-shaped trap (see the map of The Trap rooms). The fact that the key is carved into a stone is perhaps a visual word riddle for “keystone” indicating that what we find in the trap is important.
The Mason Objects: The spike, compass, hammer and square are often placed together in the symbolism of the Masons, usually these items are placed flanking the Bible. Here the scroll is in the location usually occupied by the Bible, suggesting that what is on the scroll is important.
In many masonic images the Bible is flanked or overlaid by the compass and square. The hammer and spike are also common elements (in the left and center images).
Hidden Letters: The letters in the maze in the map spell out “IN SLY” this uses all the obvious letters in the map except for a “C” (it could also be an “n” or a “u”) which is off to the right separate from the others. The objects surrounding the parchment perhaps signify letters and spell out “devil” or “evil.” So the phrase is “Devil In Sly” or “Evil In Sly.” Alternately the objects leaning against the keystone could spell out “I AM” so the whole phrase reads “I am in sly.” Or the “C” could be taken as “see” so it reads “See In Sly.”
Possible phrasings:
IN SLY
devIL IN SLY
evIL IN SLY
I AM IN SLY
(see) IN SLY
Room 43:
- Images copyright 1985 by Christopher Manson
In Room 4 the Guide says, “What a foolish face.” Obviously referring to himself. The sculpture is goofy looking, but human with some kind of headdress or crown. In Room 7 the Guide says the picture on the wall “wasn’t a very good likeness”, picture, not mirror. Again, he’s referring to a picture of himself. I think it’s the picture on the lower right of a human wearing a crown, no horns.
I know this has been suggested over the years, but I’m thinking maybe the Guide isn’t the Minotaur, but someone who “feeds” the Minotaur. Could the guide be Aegues (I’m sure his name had to crop up)? Yes, I drilled around and found King Aegues. It’s speculated he was adopted, his biological father not being the king who married his mother and adopted him. He would have worn a crown, and so it wouldn’t be easy to turn his head and see behind him. His story contains some deception. He would definitely have had passion and anger (fire in his eyes) bc he had to send seven young women and seven young men each month to feed the Minotaur. His son Theseus ultimately battled the Minotaur.
Room 7 has one “portrait” which isnt actually one. Its blank, possibly a mirror.
With horns on top.
Not to mention i recognized several of the portraits as characters from plays/books, suggesting the person on the mirror is one between us and its from some story too.
Can you elaborate on the characters you recognize? I’m intrigued!
I am not an expert on Shakespear, and I have not read the Tempest, however after the first read I thought, the Guide is the Caliban, a character from that play.
There are clues pointing, into a storm happening outside of the Maze.
Fish/tortoise like character, Fish on sign on the Entrance to the Maze (instead of bull, or horns).
Surely, there are more clues pointing at the Minotaur, just something to think about…
It would be hilarious if the recurring umbrellas and rain references had to do with The Tempest.
Also, I don’t think you knew this, but Manson’s planned sequel to Maze was named Prospero’s Palace. (Though it’s unclear whether that referred to the character from the Tempest, from The Masque of the Red Death, or something else.)
The minotaur seemed obvious to me.
He describes his parents as one being quite lowborn (bull), the other as ‘close to a king’ (the queen).
In the room where they remark upon a portrait not being a very good likeness, there is a mirror with horns.
He speak of indignities done to his father. (Adopted father? Referring to the cuckoldry with the livestock?)
And speaks of old neighbors. (Icarus and Dedalus?)
Says people speak of his family but most of the tales are exaggerations. (Meaning he might not actually be recognizable as half bull?)
Also, the room he said he feels most at home in looks like an animal pen.
Lastly, people were sacrificed to the labyrinth, and it was the job of the minotaur to ensure they didn’t find their way out again.
I came upon this book very recently. I “thought” the guide was the devil. There seemed to be a variety of clues (in my mind) that suggested it. BUT, I must admit that I failed to see a lot of the clues that everyone pointed to here. So, it is a minotaur. I don’t mind being wrong. It has been a great deal of fun trying to figure it (and everything else) out. Great work everyone!
Can you expound on the devil clues you found? There certainly seems to be imagery and language suggestive of it, but I wonder what you’ve found.
While I get that Minotaur is the final answer, to me? That’s just the next clue. His identity is “minotaur of the maze”, or “minotaur of the world”. Who’s the minotaur of the world, there’s no minotaur on Earth… is there?
It’s funny to note that The Devil has horns, cloven feet, and a tail, all bull or ox like features. There’s a pitchfork and devil puppets that can be found in the maze.
Here’s another interesting note about The Devil: when he was the angel lucifier, he was known as a type of angel called a ‘cherub’.
An alternative meaning to the word cherub? BULL or OX
The guide’s motivation makes more sense too as The Devil: being tricky, giving bad clues, but never actually making the final choice, like how The Devil messes with us. He’s trying to get you to room 24, an eternal pit of darkness with no escape. Sounds like Hell to me. Yup, it’s The Devil.
That’s just my take though!
I’m not familiar with Satan as a cherub. Where does that come from?
The cherub is sometimes depicted as a weird monster with bull features, but I’m not seeing it used as a synonym for “bull.” Can you share your sources?
“They never noticed my crown, my pain, the fire in my eyes.”
Why Minotaur?
1) my crown – son of Pasiphaë, the daughter of Helios and the Oceanid nymph in Perse. His mother, Pasiphaë, was a queen of Crete.
2) my pain – son a snow-white bull, sent by Poseidon to her lawful husband, a king of Crete, Minos. Being of dual nature half man, half bull, Minotaur must definitely have been affected by the rejection from the Cretian people.
3) the fire in my eyes – lust for human flesh and oscilating behaviour.
4) MAZE – it’s literally a labyrinth
So no mystery here at all.
It’s certainly not a mystery why, thematically, the Minotaur is an appropriate character here, or how references to royalty and torment implicate him. But, looking at the various clues as to the narrator’s identity, there are several that don’t really fit the traditional conception of the Minotaur.
-The narrator isn’t immediately identifiable to everyone as a half-bull monster.
-The narrator claims to be the architect of the Maze.
-The narrator has an unusual degree of intelligence and cultural knowledge compared to the typical depiction of the Minotaur.
-The narrator apparently has no interest in eating the people sent to him.
This is why, although there seem to be fairly clear implications that the narrator is the Minotaur, it was always a debatable premise, and there were good arguments to be made for other mythological figures as well.
The issue is only considered settled because White Raven says that Manson stated as much, though it remains unclear whether some particular puzzle indicates this solution, or whether we’re just meant to infer it from the weight of the explicit clues.
and the hidden bulls heads in rooms 43 and 4 }:]
Right, and the non-existent bull heads found in every corner of the book, implicated by nonsensical, incomplete trails of unrelated symbols.
It seems as though no one has suggested the Minotaur’s cousin, Larry. Larry doesn’t like the taste of humans that the Minotaur does as his diet is mostly keto proteins, fats, and fibres, nor does he have a social media account making it very hard to find out what he looks like.
And then there’s his brother Darryl, and his other brother Darryl.
Hello to everyone! It’s my first post, even though I have solved the path part of a maze something like 7 years ago. But it looks like that there are still unanswered questions, so I will try to join the team of deep divers here :)
There is one thing about the Guide that I have not found anyone mentioning. It was quite obvious that he is the Minotaur, but who he is also? I think, that Minotaur, as a guide has one more layer to him. It is the reader. There are couple of points that are hinting to that.
1) in the introduction it is said that people do not see his crown/pain/fire in his eyes. They do not see because it is not obvious as he is metaphorical Minotaur – the reader, trapped in the Maze. The blind trying to lead other blind.
2) To understand how he looks IN THE MAZE, the reader can look at the mirror in Room 7. The mirror is empty because each of the readers looks differently. But each of the readers is the guide for that group and each of the readers is the Minotaur – “just add horns to your own face and you will see”. Only then there are horns, because of that the group does not notice anything.
3) In room 45 there is “I AM” which of course is part of another puzzle, but also it is one more confirmation of the same. You raise the quetsion “who is the guide” and the answer is “I AM”.
4) “This House is not only made of stone and mortar, wood and paint; it is made of time and mystery, hope and fear.” — It is made of time, because the reader tries to solve the puzzle in different times: some in 1987, others in 1995, others in 2022. There is HOPE to find the solution. And FEAR to fail.
5) “Construction never stops. I take some pride in my role as architect.” – construction is the process of solving and mapping the Maze. If one Minotaur has mapped the Maze, the other one is still mapping it right now.
6) from this comes one more point about many groups and many Minotaurs – when one group is traveling in Room 10, the other group is in the room where they are arguing and suddenly hears the doorknob rattle. And when one group is in Room 26 ringing the bell, the other is in Room 1 hearing it. When one group is in Room 4 chopping wood, the other is in Room 39 hearing it. Because of that all groups, WE all “hear” each other.
7) “They think I will guide them to the center. Perhaps I will….” — yes, beacause it will depend whether the Maze is solved by that particular guide, or not.
So, what do you think?
To add to previous post: a way to look at the Maze is to as a work of modern literature, which can be interactive, interlinked, intertextual and hypertextual. The time works different there because of unlimited amount of times the Maze is being solved. The structure is constantly changing, because the one who is trying to solve and lead his own group of people through the Maze, makes his/her own construction with his/her own theories on how it is made. Maybe because of there are various types of rooms – one is similiar to one reader’s home, the other one is similar to other reader’s garden, etc.
I am going to be thinking about this for a while. Bravo for adding another entirely unique and rich reading to a book where so many have been posited.
Another thing, if it hasn’t been said already: In room 25, the guide narrates “Though one of my parents might be lowborn, the other was close to a king;” In mythology, the Minotaur’s parents are a sacrificial bull, who you could argue is low-born, and Pasiphaë (the wife of King Minos), who was close to a king, make of that what you will.
So, I found some information that may or may not appertain to the identity of the GUIDE, keeping in mind that the GUIDE is the MINOTAUR. I’m fairly certain it has absolutely nothing to do with MANSON’S original intentions, but nevertheless, I thought it would be interesting to note the following: The Latin *root “ANIM” (MINA-toor*;Minotaur) means “MIND” or “SPIRIT”. This latin root ANIM is easily recalled via the word ANIMAL, for an animal is a living, moving creature and so contains a “SPIRIT” and “MIND”. Thank you for taking the time to read this latest update of mine. B
Sadly to mention but Minotaur has nothing to do with Anim root.
Mino is Minos, the king of Crete
Taur is Taurus, which is bull.
So is as simple as it is)