This is an extraordinary passage chat suggests how radically Scarry is offer ing to reconceive making and material production. In the context of narrative, the indirection of the bodily lever means that the image of disembodiment is not an end in itself, but rather a means by which corpo reality can be transformed for the reader and author. As we have seen, corporeality raises fundamental questions about the nature of the author ity of the speaker in narrative. Such corporeal levers do not necessarily create a disembodied speaker-although they may do this-but more generally work to transform the conditions of authority and corporeality, to remake the narrative situation as a site where authority is not an issue.