But, Jerry, isn't there other evidence that both Kinbote and Gradus share John
Shade's birthday, whatever it is?
Carolyn
Yes, there is. Kinbote tells us several times that Shade was born on July 5, 1898. He also tells us that he told Sybil that day was also his birthday (n. 181) and that as King Charles he met Disa during his birthday celebration on July 5, 1947 (n. 275), not that I believe him about either. Finally, he says that when Gradus saw a mention of July 1, 1979, in the New York Times, he thought he'd be 64 four days later, which puts his birthday on July 5 (n. 949). That also means his birth year as 1915, the same as Kinbote's.
I'm embarrassed to see I left that reference to n. 949 out of my timeline. I may fix it.