Our "Ghosts"

            At the start of the novel I came close to hating the narrator. My biggest problem with him was the way he viewed others. It seemed as if he elevated himself simply because he took matters into his own hands as opposed to letting other people do his work. Nevertheless, I have come to change my opinion on the narrator as the novel has progressed.

            Through further description and insight into the lives of the characters I was able to see why the narrator believes so highly in self-sufficiency. His bad experience with the motorcycle mechanics triggered him to want to do things on his own. I thought this proved the saying of “if you want something done right do it yourself” well.  The insight into this experience he had also led me to wonder if we ever have any assurance that someone is good at his or her job. We do not ever really know that someone is competent enough to do what he/she is doing. By the time we figure it out it is too late. In other words, what I am saying is that despite hearing by word of mouth that a doctor performs surgery well, we do not truly know for ourselves until the surgery is over. By then, it could be too late if the doctor was not in fact good at his job. Obviously, this example extends past doctors and onto other professions. 

              Another point in the novel that I really enjoyed was the narrator’s explanation of the “ghosts” that surround us. Despite liking the idea that nothing we "know" is absolute, it did unsettle me a bit. It is unsettling to think that everything we know is not actually truth. The idea that they are just labels on non-existant things is bothersome for it takes out the certainty we have in life.
- Talia Akerman