The Pursuer

‘…Rather against the people who hang around him, myself, the Marquesa

and Marcel, for example. Basically we’re a bunch of egotists; under the pretext of watching out for Johnny what we're doing is protecting our idea of him, getting ourselves ready for the pleasure Johnny's going to give us, to reflect the brilliance from the statue we've erected among us all and defend it till the last gasp’

This excerpt from ‘The Pursuer’ by Julio Cortazar, which is part of our reading list of Originative Work, is very inspiring in my eyes. It talks about individual perception; how we sometimes see other people not in the way they see themselves. If we see something in a person we like, we tend to only watch out for this and forget about everything else that might be there too. Furthermore we like to present ourselves in the way want to be seen by others, mostly in a positive way to catch people’s attention.

Referring to the text above one can say it is easier to see the good in a person and forget about the darker side. In our society we want to be happy all the time, we want to be gifted in what we do. So we look up at this talented person, who of course must be happy because she is so talented, and if we are not as happy at least we know someone who is.


LS