identity – RMST 202 201 Blogs

The Book of Chameleons by José Eduardo Agualusa is beautiful and unique to read. The book was also very dreamy and it seemed like I didn’t know what was true and what was a lie or dream throughout the book. We follow the gecko’s point of view back and forth between reality, dreams, and the past.

The narrator of this novel is very interesting, his name is Eulálio, who reincarnated into a gecko. However, he still has the memory is man, and can think and observe what happens around him. Eulálio had always lived in Felix Ventura’s house, who is an albino. Felix Ventura’s work is what I found most interesting in this book. He is a genealogist who makes up a new identity and family tree for people who have money and status but don’t have a good past. “He provides them with photographs of their grandparents and great-grandparents, gentlemen of elegant bearing and old-fashioned ladies”. (p.25)

Reading up here, Felix Ventura’s job makes me wonder, is it possible for people themselves to accept a brand new identity and get used to it? In the next scene, my question was answered. The foreigner came to Felix for a brand new identity, and he was given the name of José Buchmann and his Angolan identity. “Perhaps it’s like you see with a chrysalis, and the secret buzz of enzymes has been eating away at his organs.” ( p.63) Does a beautiful butterfly remember that it was once a small chrysalis? Why is this foreigner able to sooo easily adapt and embrace a new identity within a few months? I believe the novel also gives us an answer: “Reality is painful and imperfect, and that’s just the way it is, that’s how we distinguish it from dreams.” (p. 94) Similarly for us, if our past reality is ambiguous and painful, it is easier to replace and change.

In addition to the theme of dreams, truth and lies, the character Angela Lucia also adds romantic elements to this novel. She has a past she doesn’t want to talk about, but she has a future to pursue. Eulálio’s series of dreams was also fascinating. In these dreams, she was able to communicate with Felix, like a real man. This added the elements of fantasy and a more dreamy style to the novel.

Moreover, this novel was set on Angola, and before reading this novel, I knew almost nothing about it. After finishing reading, when I searched and learned about the background of Angola, I realized how many painful memories of colonization and wars have brought to the people of Angola. Perhaps it is important it is for them to weave a false but beautiful past. While the novel did not discuss much about Angola and war, the existence of Edmundo Barata dos Reis uncovered a real history of civil war, and the death of innocent children.

“Truth has a habit of being ambiguous too” (p 122). Referring to the title of this novel “ chameleon”, who changes itself into their surroundings to get closer to their prey. What do you think this reflects about human life? Do we hide our identity for our benefits?

In Alberto Morovia’s novella Agostino, the main character Agostino is a 13-year-old boy who has an unusual attachment with his mother. Despite he is already 13, he loves his mother with a “naive” heart and adores her as a mother figure. One summer, he and his widow’s mother went on holiday to the Tuscan coast, and this trip caused Augostino to transform from a boy to a man exponentially, as well as added confusion, distress, and sexuality in him.

From the narration, Agostino seemed to have lived a privileged and sheltered life, where he understood nothing about the suffering, sexuality, and violence of the outside world. His unusual dependencies on his mother lead him to be jealous and anxious when her mother is being attracted by other “men” while on the beach. I liked Morovia’s description of Agostino’s mood at this event. When he realizes that his adored mother acts so proactively toward another “man” and that he is being left out, he is overwhelmed, anger, confusion, and shame surround him. When his mother slaps him, it seems that this is the turning point, the turning point that changes Agostino, where he meets the local boys.

His comfort zone was shattered when he went to hang out with the gang of local boys, and that’s when he was forced to grow up. These boys were very rude, violent, and vulgar. In the first interaction, Agostino seems to be degraded and humiliated. I did not expect that he didn’t seem to care that he was being put down and still wanted to hang out with them. I think a big reason why Agostino kept hoping to be with them is that he finds these boys and Saro as a model of what is a real “man”. He never had a male figure in his life because he didn’t have a father, and meeting these rude boys seemed to open up the world of masculinity to him.

“He replaced his former reverence with cruelty and his affection with sensuality.” (p.69)

And after being teased and sexually educated by these boys, it seems that his opinion of his mother has completely changed, and he can no longer respect, and love his mother when she has no qualms about dressing and exposing herself to him. It seems that any stimulus during adolescence can easily change a child’s heart and moral values, which also makes me reflect that the wealth and status protection that Agostino has seems to make him even more influenced.

One question I have is that is the thoughts that 13-year-old Agostino are abnormal and immoral, or it is reasonable during puberty when he just learns about sex? How might his experience with the local boys shape his perception of man and woman?

RMST 202 201 Blogs

Tag Archives: identity

‘The Book of Chameleons’ — José Eduardo Agualusa

Week 5: Young Boy Agostino’s Journey–Alberto Moravia