The Archduke is not actually in the novel An Abundance of Katherines, but he has significant meaning. Colin and Hassan are driving and pass a sign that is advertising the Archduke's grave. They want to see it so they stop in Gutshot, Tennessee. Really this grave is not of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but of Colin's soon to be girlfriend Lindsay's grandfather. Lindsay's grandfathers name is an anagram for Franz Ferdinand, which I find ironic because Colin is a child prodigy and loves things like anagrams.
Fred N. Dinzanfar = Franz Ferdinand
Colin is really trying to make his mark on the world for being remembered just like the Archduke was remembered. He wants to be known for doing good for the world and having his name last in history forever. Franz Ferdinand was remembered as the "tongue-hanging-out-of-your-mouth idiot" (48). Franz Ferdinand in the history of the world and that's how Colin wants to be. Colin doesn't realize until after his time in Gutshot that, "the future will erase everything--there's no level of fame or genius that allows you to transcend oblivion. The infinite future makes that kind of mattering impossible" (213). He discovers that years from when he is dead and everything has changed he won't matter in history or in society.
I think that this whole thing of Colin wanting to be remembered by the world correlates to his loneliness. Yes, he may have a few friends, but he feels as if he needs to prove to the world that he is there and that he does matter. He doesn't figure out until the end of the book that he doesn't need to be remembered by the world, but by the people he loves and the people that love him.
Fred N. Dinzanfar = Franz Ferdinand
Colin is really trying to make his mark on the world for being remembered just like the Archduke was remembered. He wants to be known for doing good for the world and having his name last in history forever. Franz Ferdinand was remembered as the "tongue-hanging-out-of-your-mouth idiot" (48). Franz Ferdinand in the history of the world and that's how Colin wants to be. Colin doesn't realize until after his time in Gutshot that, "the future will erase everything--there's no level of fame or genius that allows you to transcend oblivion. The infinite future makes that kind of mattering impossible" (213). He discovers that years from when he is dead and everything has changed he won't matter in history or in society.
I think that this whole thing of Colin wanting to be remembered by the world correlates to his loneliness. Yes, he may have a few friends, but he feels as if he needs to prove to the world that he is there and that he does matter. He doesn't figure out until the end of the book that he doesn't need to be remembered by the world, but by the people he loves and the people that love him.