Enoch Root is a recurring character throughout The Baroque Cycle, Cryptonomicon, and Fall; or, Dodge in Hell. Although he is not one of the main protagonists of the books, he often appears at crucial times and places. He appears across many centuries, suggesting that he is a long-lived or immortal being.
Enoch was a member of the Societas Eruditorium, a shadowy organization to which it seems no other character in the novels belonged, besides Solomon Kohan and Corvallis Kawasaki. The society appeared to be related to the study and advancement of science, and Enoch traveled around the world seeking knowledge and supplies from those who shared his interest in the topic.
Enoch appeared able to recognize talent and potential in individuals he encountered, and was able to subtly or overtly do things to encourage them to realize that potential. Among the individuals Enoch encountered and influenced were:
- Gottfried Leibniz
- Isaac Newton
- Daniel Waterhouse
- Eliza
- Ben Franklin
- Alan Turing
- Bobby Shaftoe
- Randy Waterhouse
- Sophia Forthrast
Physical appearance[]
During the events of the Cycle, Enoch was described as "a man of indefinable age but evidently broad experience, with silver hair queued down to the small of his back, a copper-red beard, pale gray eyes, and skin weathered and marred like a blacksmith's ox-hide apron."[1]
The Baroque Cycle[]
Enoch shared many of the hardships of Jack Shaftoe's cabal as he traveled with them around the world.
Cryptonomicon[]
Enoch corresponded with Randy Waterhouse via e-mail (using the address root@eruditorium.org) and later in person, encouraging him to continue developing his company Epiphyte and his search for Golgotha. He also nursed Bobby Shaftoe back to health after an injury and after that traveled with him around the world as part of Detachment 2702.
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell[]
Enoch appeared as an employee of the Organization for New Eschatology and worked to advance Sophia Forthrast's project to re-activate Richard Forthrast's digitally preserved brain. After Egdod, Richard's manifestation within the simulation, was overthrown and imprisoned by the manifestation of Elmo Shepherd, Root and Kohan (now in the form of Solly Pesador) gave Corvallis Kawasaki the cryptographic key that would set Egdod free, allowing him to overthrow Shepherd and ascend to godhood within the Digital afterlife.
Remarking on these events, Enoch let it slip to Zula Forthrast that this sequence of occurrences, or one similar to it, happened "every time", implying that the reality Zula inhabits was itself a simulation that had repeated before.
In a last conversation with Zula, Enoch stated that he is not sure where he is going, but that his purpose on this plane of existence has been fulfilled, and he disappeared into a glow of golden light.
References[]
- ↑ page 13, "Boston Common", Quicksilver