Otis Escapes, parts 4207 - 4210

 4207. Before you ask me why I would go to all the trouble of searching for images that have no relationship to the text, and placing them between my paragraphs, I will try to continue with this narrative. 

 4208. But for those of you who require some explanation, I will simply say that finding images that do not relate to the text is often very difficult, and I pride myself on my skill of discovering images that serve no purpose.

4209.  Often I discover, upon reflection, that an image does have some obscure connection to the text, and then I have to delete it, but it doesn’t happen very often. Now, we return to our story.

4210. What I found so fascinating about the third game was the long pause after Otis had placed his O in the bottom center square. If we look up above at paragraph 4206, anyone can see that, since it is the X’s move, he will win, and there can be no doubt about it.

Otis Escapes, parts 4203 - 4206

  4203. Otis, overlooking the danger of his position, had placed his O in the center of the bottom row. For the sake of any of my readers who can’t visualize the appearance of the board in this pivotal game, I have drawn them out for you to see, and placed them above these texts; please have a careful look at them.

 4204. Before I go on, I would like to point out that I have been narrating this long series of stories, a series that now amounts to 4206 paragraphs, and never in all this time have I ever placed an image above a text that had an obvious relationship to the text.

 4205. This is the first time, and this should indicate the importance I place on the reader having a complete understanding of the import of what I am about to say about this tic-tac-toe game, and the birds, (important, at least to me.)

4206. It is true that sometimes the illustrations I use seem to have a vague relationship to the text, but I assure you, it is only a coincidence. I strive, as much as possible to have the illustrations I use be as irrelevant as possible, and consider them to be simply a form of meaningless decoration. 

Otis Escapes, parts 4199 - 4202

 4199. Now we have to consider an even more significant aspect of this third game that the Rooster and Otis performed. As I said above, the Rooster began with an X to the upper left, and Otis opened with on O to the center.

 4200.  Rooster’s third move is quite interesting; he placed his X in the upper right hand corner. Try, if you are able, to visualize what the board looked like at this fateful moment.

 4201. You can see clearly that the Rooster can win if he gets to place his third X in between his two previous marks in the upper corners. In the next move Otis is compelled to place his O in the top center in order to prevent the Rooster from an immediate win. 

 

4202. The amazing thing, at least for me, was this fact: almost none of the birds in either of the trees, hardly a single crow or pigeon, seemed to realize that the game was already won the moment Otis failed to place his O between the two Xs already on the board, and put it in the bottom center instead.

Otis Escapes, parts 4195 - 4198

 4195. Can you imagine the profound almost hypnotic effect this endless training has on the formative mind? It is the obvious reason why, even years later, a person will start a letter with Dear Sir, in the L.H. corner, rather that with the signature down at the B.R. 

 4196. And so, throughout one’s life, papers are begun in the U.L.H.C., and it has become an ingrained habit almost impossible to overcome. The Rooster was no exception because bird homework is entirely Western in its format.

 4197. I will admit that the preceding observations overlook the fact that Otis and the Rooster had decided in advance to throw the game to the Rooster, and so all the moves had been decided, it least in outline form, from the very beginning.

4198. I only point this out to explain why it is that so many activities commenced on a piece of paper, begin in such a predictable way, even when, as is so often the case, a more holistic approach would be preferable.

Otis Escapes, parts 4191 - 4194

 4191. Placing your marker in the center in Tic-Tac-Toe is always considered the strongest move for the obvious reason that it is a location offering four possible paths to victory.

 4192. Since the center spot is such a strong position one wonders why the Rooster did not take it in the first move, since he has the opportunity, and I can offer only one explanation. 

 4193. Players often chose the upper left hand corner for their first move simply because they are driven by what I would term the “aesthetic impulse to order.” Works on paper in Western culture are always begun in the upper left-hand corner. 

4194. To begin in the upper left is not really necessary, but just for a moment consider how many millions of homework papers every person has filled out in their lifetime, and every one of them began with some scrawl, or even a blot, in the upper left hand corner.

Otis Escapes, parts 4187 - 4190

 4187. Otis won the first two games, but it was a sham. The combatants had exchanged their usual eye contact signals to decide who the winner was going to be. It was no more real than a wrestling match.

 4188. After the first two losses the Rooster won the third game. He won it suddenly at the fifth move, which hardly ever happens in Tic-Tac-Toe.

 4189. Otis acted like he had never seen it coming, and this gave great joy to the crows who hopped about and fluttered their wings in joy, but the pigeons grew restive and resentful.  

4190. Let me tell you a few things I found interesting about this third game of theirs. The Rooster opened the game with a traditional X in the upper left hand corner. Otis followed with the equally common O right in the center of the board.

Otis Escapes, parts 4183 - 4186

4183. Otis and the Rooster has played so many games already that they were quite aware of the games limitations.  

4184. They knew that whomever began could always win by using the “pair of pants” strategy, but they perceived that the birds were new to the game and had not yet worked out its subtleties. 

 

4185. The ignorance of the birds about the game gave the two of them the inspiration to begin acting, as if their lives depended on making the best moves. They dragged out their games using all 60 seconds for every move.

 

4186. The Rooster had to play the game with the X’s, and the crows had wanted to be for Otis, but when they found they had to cheer for the X, they soon found themselves becoming excited when the Rooster made what they imagined was a good move.