Jose Eduardo Agualusa’s novel, “The Book of Chameleons,” is an imaginative novel that explores the themes of identity and memory through the lens of a gecko living in the house of Felix Ventura. The gecko undergoes life with feelings and thoughts adjacent to those of humans, capable of processing human behaviours and interactions. This made sense as it was later revealed that the gecko was a man “in an earlier life (pg. 29)” whose “soul has been trapped in this body [of a gecko] (pg. 40).” There are many interesting characters in this story and the narration was engaging and straightforward, without the philosophical and abstract writing from previous readings.
Felix Ventura was the owner of the house and he established a close friendship with the gecko whom he named Eulalio (not sure if this was his true name in his past life). He was very creative and imaginative, saying that “Literature is the only chance for a true liar to attain any sort of social acceptance (pg. 68).” This quote intrigued me and got me reflecting on the values that I was taught. Society often declares that “honesty is the best policy,” so is there ever a time when lying is justified? Is it only when words are typed out on pages of fictional novels that it’s acceptable to spin tales from our minds? Another quote from Felix that stood out to me was “I think what I do is really an advanced kind of literature… I create plots, I invent characters, but rather than keeping them trapped in a book I give them life, launching them out into reality (pg. 68).” This confirmed my hypothesis that Felix was in the business of selling false identities and creating artificial memories to his customer; the most prominent one being Jose Buchmann, who became so immersed in his new identity that it appeared that “this man has been Jose Buchmann all his life (pg. 59).” Jose’s dedication and faith he put into his new identity was alarming and frightening, he listened intently to Felix’s fabricated story of his past life while asking detailed questions to reinvent himself.
Another interesting aspect of this story was the gecko’s capability to enter into the human character’s dreams. At first, I thought that he could only enter Felix’s dream as they lived under the same roof and shared a connection because they were “best friends (pg. 179),” but he was in Jose’s dream as well. What’s even more fascinating is that the gecko took on a human form in these dreams: “In the dream he had human form, a serious sort of man, with a face that seemed familiar to me (pg. 69).” Was this human form the man he was in his former lifetime?
Discussion Question(s):
One of the main themes of this novel is identity, do you think that identity is fixed or ever-changing? Why do you think someone may ask Felix to change their identity? Under what circumstances would you consider changing your identity?
“the gecko whom he named Eulalio (not sure if this was his true name in his past life)”
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“Jose’s dedication and faith he put into his new identity was alarming and frightening, he listened intently to Felix’s fabricated story of his past life while asking detailed questions to reinvent himself.”
And why does he do this? (And the end of the novel, he tells us…) Does he really believe in this new identity? I think not… it’s another pretence…
It would be good if you looked more closely at the second half of the novel, which also raises questions about identity and whether it is “fixed or ever-changing.”
Hi Fiona, I was also really interested in Felix and the way he described what he did. To answer your question, I personally think Identity can change through time and experiences although some part of it remains the same at least deep inside.
Hello, Fiona. I loved reading your blog. I believe that identity is ever-changing rather than fixed. Clearly, people with a “new identity” may tend to forget their old as seen in the book.
Hi Fiona!
To answer your question, identity will never be something that is inherently “fixed”. Identity spans a lifespan; the me today is vastly different from the me like 10 years ago. I guess it comes with age and the current stage of your life; like what you like, what interests you, what people you surround yourself with, etc. But also people change their identity for a myriad of reasons, such as safety reasons. With people in places of conflict, they may want to opt to change their identity for self-preservation, which is what we kind of see José do.