Homework #9

“Soul Mountain” reflects so many aspects of nature that we can say that it’s the real machine that recreate the people imagination and combine in itself the research of human being. But it’s not artificial.

Despite this reflection I have selected a passage when a contemporary machine, an X-ray machine, that revealing the no presence of cancer in the protagonist give him the possibility of talking about fate. In this way it became a real protagonist, changing with its response the whole plot, obliging him to run away and found himself somewhere else, transforming its complete artificial information a real consequence. Like an antagonist, like an obstacle against witch it’s impossible to compete.

He looked at the X-ray and threw up both of his arms in grand theatrical style.

“Isn’t this wonderful?”

“Do I still have to have that done?” I was asking about the final Xray.

“Still have to have what done?” he berated me, he saved people’s lives and had this sort of authority. He then got me to stand in front of an X-ray machine with a projector screen and told me to take a deep breath, breathe out, turn around, turn to the left, turn to the right.

“You can see it for yourself,” he said, pointing to the screen. “Have a look, have a look.”

Actually I didn’t seen anything clearly, my brain was like a great blob of paste and the only thing I saw on the screen was a blurry rib cage.

“There’s nothing there, is there?” he loudly berated me as if I were deliberately being a nuisance.

“But then how can those other X-rays be explained?” I couldn’t stop myself asking.

“If there’s nothing there, there’s nothing there, it’s just vanished. How can it be explained? Colds and lung inflammation can cause a shadow and when you get better, the shadow disappears.”

But I hadn’t asked him about a person’s state of mind. Could that cause a shadow?

“Go and live properly, young man.” He swivelled his chair around, dismissing me.

He was right, I had won a new lease of life, I was younger than a new-born baby.