Carolyn,

 

In C.949 Kinbote analyzes the character of Gradus. In one section, he
imagines a trial (Gradus versus the Crown), during which he says, I suppose
in the voice of the prosecutor, "we may concede, doctor, that our half-man
was also half-mad." This sounds to me more like a commitment hearing than a
trial, and if so it might bolster your theory concerning Shade's
commitment. A bit of his own hearing seeping in?

 

Matthew Roth