character, "kittenish", humorously printing out apparently nonsensical legal language when first switched on. Its hardware and actions are described as if it were a person. All major cases have to be reviewed by Mose. Initially the machine rejects the case for "insufficient documentation of passion motive". This is another indication that Reich's motivations were not what even he thought. Mose is persuaded to focus on the profit motive and produces a favorable prediction. At that point the actual reply D'Courtney sent to Reich's merger offer appears, showing that there was no profit motive. The case against Reich collapses. Typography Bester played with typographic symbols when constructing various characters' names. This gave "Wyg&" for "Wygand", "@kins" for "Atkins", and "¼Maine" for "Quartermaine". He also used overtyping to strike out the "2" in Jerry Church's label of "Esper 2", to show that he has been expelled from the Esper community. Major themes Jo Walton has said that The Demolished Man is shaped by Freudian psychology, comparing it to The Last Battles relation to Christianity, and emphasizing that the resolution of the plot only makes sense in a Freudian context: Reich's hatred of D'Courtney is motivated by oedipal feelings. Writer Richard Beard thought the Freudian aspects dubious: "Not all his future projections have worn so well. Reich's motives are stiffly dependent on Freudian theory, but most glaringly Bester fails to predict any type of feminism. The words girl and pretty always come as a pair." Adaptations In 1959, novelist Thomas Pynchon applied for a Ford Foundation Fellowship to work with an opera company, proposing to write, among other possibilities, an adaptation of The Demolished Man. The application was turned down. Since reading the novel as a young man, director Brian de Palma has considered adapting it for film. Lack of financing has long since kept the film unproduced.The Demolished Man was adapted for German radio by RIAS Berlin in 1973 under the title Demolition. Demolition was the first radio drama recorded with the dummy head recording method.The Demolished Man was adapted for Norwegian NRK Radio in 1981 under the title Demolisjon. Cultural references Donald Fagen of the band Steely Dan said of their hit song "Deacon Blues": The TV series Babylon 5 features an organization similar to the telepaths guild (Psi Corps). A character named Alfred Bester is a prominent member for the organization. Various other themes of the story are present in