Alison quoted:

"The force of words being too weak to hold men to the performance of their covenants, there are in man's nature but two imaginable helps to strengthen it. And those are either a fear of the consequence of breaking their word, or a glory or pride in appearing not to need to break it. This latter is a generosity too rarely found to be presumed on, especially in the pursuers of wealth, command, or sensual pleasure, which are the greatest part of mankind. ... That which gives to human actions the relish of justice is a certain nobleness or gallantness of courage, rarely found, by which a man scorns to be beholding for the contentment of his life to fraud, or breach of promise."

This is similar to the notion of morality expressed in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness', which I also find relevant to B7. Marlow says to the people listening to his story, 'It's easy for you to be moral - you have the butcher, the police and the asylum.' Within civilized world, most people don't have to kill anyone for food, they don't dare commit a crime or do anything deviant because they're afraid they might end up in jail or mental institution. But these are all *outer* restraints; on a steamer floating down Congo, they do not exist, and the only restraint which prevents man from going bad is found (or not found) within. In Marlow's eyes, the cannibals aboard the steamer have more inner restraint than the ivory traders - although their rations of hippo meat have gone rotten, they won't kill and eat the white men on board because they've made a deal with them.

I think the idea of 'inner restraint' is applicable to B7 as well. Space is a kind of futuristic 'Wild West' or wild Africa, where societal laws cease to function (and in B7 they were unjust anyway) and the only thing which prevents a person from commiting a crime is his own inner maxim of humanity, compassion and morality. Blake often functions as an externalization of that maxim, preventing the others from gratifying their baser urges.

Perhaps it's even possible to view the original crew as different aspects of one single personality - with Gan as the body, Avon as the intellect, Vila as the basic self-preservation instinct (for food, drink, sleep, safety), the two women as the feminine aspect of the psyche (emotions, intuition, sensuality), and Blake as the person's ethic principle. Of course, it's just for the sake of mental excercise - I prefer to see them as separate, complex characters that they really are.

N.