Pigeon

This is the short novel written by Patrick Suskind. He is a German literary man. This is the story about a man. His name is Jonathan. He is past the age of 50. This story has a day of him. It can be divided into three scenes. The reason is that Jonathan is amorous and susceptible, and this novel has depictions of his daily life in detail in this low scene. But I can't declare whether the word "amorous and susceptible" is good sense or not. That's because I wonder if he has autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and the depictions come from them. I talk about parts expressing his character in each scene and effects on his life. 


First, I talk about Jonathan. He was taken away with his sister from their parents. Finally he was taken from her too. He got married, but his wife went off with another man. In the result, he lapsed into a distrust of humanity. And the symptom like autism was seen in him. So he decided to live stilly by himself out of humanity. He moved from Charenton to Paris. He went into a bank guards and rend the apartment. He decided to live there quietly.


But the apartment had a problem. The toilet was public. He had to go out his room to go to the toilet. He wanted to avoid publicity as far as he could, so it annoyed him. "Live alone" was not general single life for him. He hoped that he lived alone in the world if he could. He wanted to have a life without connection. He had live there more than 30 years, so he got the ability to go to the toilet with avoiding publicity by pressing his ear to the wall and feeling the air or sound of corridor. His creed that he didn't want to see anyone gave him such ability. One day, he was going to the toilet by using the ability as ever. He inferred that no one was at the corridor. But he encountered a pigeon sitting there at the moment he opened the door. Maybe due to be unexpected for him to meet it by chance at such place, the pigeon's each part was depicted carefully by him. So he went back to his room as hard as he can lick. And he had s feeling of despair. It was not to say he didn't like pigeons. He was had conscious access by the pigeon. The time that he went to the toilet and came back to his room every morning was to appreciate the space for only him without be seen by anyone. But the pigeon perceived the existence of him. And he got confused. His persecution complex was written at great length. It was "You are very chicken. You have to take fright at the existence of the pigeon all your life. You have to die without going out the room." But it was not the persecution complex but whispering of someone in his head for him. Because he had lived with avoiding such hopeless for a long time, he had not experienced persecution complex. So he thought that there was someone in his head.


In addition, the encounter with the pigeon changed his life. That's because he had to live with taking fright at the pigeon hereafter as far as it existed.  Whereat he decided to scout out a cheap inn.


When he went out the apartment to go to work, he encountered the landlord. When he went out and came back, he always met her. At that time they exchanged light greeting each other. But of course, she was frightening for him. Though he didn't want to be perceived by anyone, she certainly perceived him. He felt that her line of sight, greeting and anything ridiculed him.


The story thus far was at the apartment. What he had a heavy persecution complex was known in this part. I thought that he had autism from such air. Also I thought that it is so frightening for him who wasn't used to being perceived by someone to be perceived. And I noticed another character. He didn't say what he wanted to say. The narration had most of things he wanted to say. He hardly uttered for real.


One of them, he talked to the landlord when he saw her. What he wanted to said wasn't written. Because he was mad about her fulsomeness of line of sight and remark, he might have wanted to say about it. But he said only "Please clear off a pigeon."


Next scene was at the bank which he worked at. This scene had nothing to do with the pigeon as if he hadn't seen it. But this scene was the longest of three scenes. The air of him who was working was depicted in detail by Suskind.


As I said first, I regarded his character as amorous and susceptible. He keeping watch on the bank expressed the view and his feeling finely. But in fact, this scene may have depicted the air of him who was not able to get centered on his work.


The reason I thought so was that there was his work to open the gate and pass a limousine which had the president of the bank. But he missed it. Because he felt dizzy when he stared one point of view with keeping guard, he felt nearsighted and presbyopic at that time. When he was getting in a state over, the limousine arrived. Though the limousine honked the horn many times, he didn't notice. He was just getting depressed. I thought he had attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder from his air that he had other things on his mind without concentrating on things and neglected his work. I thought which the reason that he depicted his around view vividly came from amorous and susceptible or lack of concentration power.


In addition, this scene also showed the intensity of his paranoia. He had lunch on the bench at lunch break. When he tried to stand up, his pants hooked into the bench and tore. Common people would think the fat was in the fire and let someone repair it. But he had heavy paranoia. He was likely to die in excessive bleeding.


Last scene was at the new inn he found. This scene was very mysterious. The gait he went there was depicted very rhythmical and airy. And when he went to bed, he inadvertently said "I will kill myself tomorrow."


Further information wasn't written for uttering this phrase. He just said it. It didn't have deep meaning? But somehow I felt the phrase was very heavy. The reason he went to the inn with light gait was that he got his mind set on something?


When he was asleep, he was dreaming. It was his memory in his childhood. He was immured the dark basement room. The war was running outside. No one without him was there. He was lonely. He was stricken by heavy fear at that time. He had to live alone from now on. But he would be able to live? He was likely to cry "I can't live without someone!" He couldn't live alone after all even if the phrase was said by infant him in his dream.


He went back to the apartment which had the pigeon finally. But the pigeon wasn't there. And this story was over. Then, he killed himself after that? The opinion whether he died or not is divided.


I connect "he can't live alone" and "the pigeon wasn't there". The reason he went back to the apartment was he would think that he bore the fear of astounding pigeon and lived with it. In other words, he would think that he wasn't alone by accepting the pigeon's existence. But there wasn't the pigeon in the apartment. Because he was alone after all, he would kill himself. That's because he realized that he couldn't live alone. Because he who lived peaceably without being perceived was perceived by a organism, his life was changed perfectly. 

[1354 words]