Bill Cipher: His Past Revealed

Extra Information

While I realize many parts of Flatlands don't really affect Bill or determine any of his character, I still think there are at least some things that are still worth noting even if they can be confusing. Think of it as world-building to Bill's home. This section is not required to understand Bill's past but can help to understand his world a bit more. Feel free to skip this section if you wish and read the next section on the inhabitants of Flatland.

There is no Sun in Flatland, yet rain (which falls at stated intervals according to A Square) and nature (like trees) exist. I don't know how and why. It's best not to try and question everything with this book. The rain serves an important purpose. Every inhabitant of Flatland has a law of nature that makes them have a constant attraction to the south. Think of it like gravity but they don't fall southward/down automatically. They just feel the pull. They have no way of telling northward other than that attraction to the south other than the rain. The rain always falls from the north, meaning when it does rain they can know what way is north. Especially if they are farther southward in Flatland where the attraction to the south is naturally a lesser force. Here's the quote;

"There being no sun nor other heavenly bodies, it is impossible for us to determine the North in the usual way; but we have a method of our own. By a Law of Nature with us, there is a constant attraction to the South; and, although in temperate climates this is very slight" (A-Square).

'Yet how can they see each other if there is no sun to give light?' This is something you might be asking yourself right about now. The answer? There simply is light all around. It never changes brightness and is there at all times of the day. Why? No one knows. The question as to why has been asked time and time again in Flatland itself, and the only result is the questioners ending up in the insane asylums of Flatland. It drives them insane. Eventually, the question became prohibited. Here's a free quote;

"Windows there are none in our houses: for the light comes to us alike in our homes and out of them, by day and by night, equally at all times and in all places, whence we know not. It was in the old days, with our learned men, an interesting and oft-investigated question, "What is the origin of light?" and the solution of it has been repeatedly attempted, with no other result than to crowd our lunatic asylums with the would-be solvers. Hence, after fruitless attempts to suppress such investigations indirectly by making them liable to a heavy tax, the Legislature, in comparatively recent times, absolutely prohibited them" (A square).

As said in the quote, Flatlanders do have their own homes. Houses in Flatland are all pentagons. The top two sides keep the rain off the roofs and the edges aren't as sharp. Square and triangle houses have been banned for their sharp edges. Inanimate objects in Flatland have lighter shaded lines, but a Flatlander can not tell what shape it is unless they feel it. To avoid the dangers of accidentally running into the sharp edges, no buildings are triangles or squares except for a few special cases. I'll also talk about those dangers of sharpness in a bit as well. Here's an image of a typical Flatlander house (we'll talk more about the separate doors soon enough).