The Childhood of Jesus by J. M. Coetzee

Author:J. M. Coetzee [Coetzee, J. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: General Fiction, Fiction
ISBN: 9781922148070
Publisher: Viking
Published: 2013-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

Eugenio seems intent on showing that their disagreement about rats, history, and the organization of dockside labour has left no hard feelings. More often than not, when he leaves work, he finds Eugenio dogging his steps, and has then to repeat the charade of catching the number 6 bus to the Blocks.

‘Have you made up your mind yet about the Institute?’ asks Eugenio during one of their treks to the bus stop. ‘Do you think you will sign up?’

‘I’m afraid I haven’t given the Institute much thought of late. I have been trying to enrol at a recreation centre.’

‘A recreation centre? You mean, like Salón Confort? Why would you want to join a recreation centre?’

‘Don’t you and your friends use them? What do you do about—what shall I call them?—physical urges?’

‘Physical urges? Urges of the body? We were discussing those in class. Would you like to hear what conclusion we came to?’

‘Please.’

‘We started by noting that the urges in question have no specific object. That is to say, it is not some particular woman towards whom they impel us but towards woman in the abstract, the womanly ideal. Thus when, in order to still the urge, we resort to a so-called recreation centre, we in fact traduce the urge. Why so? Because the manifestations of the ideal on offer at such places are inferior copies; and union with an inferior copy can only leave the searcher disappointed and saddened.’

He tries to imagine Eugenio, this earnest young man with his owlish glasses, in the arms of an inferior copy. ‘You blame your disappointment on the women you meet at the Salón,’ he replies, ‘but perhaps you should reflect on the urge itself. If it is of the nature of desire to reach for what lies beyond its grasp, should we be surprised if it is not satisfied? Did your teacher at the Institute not tell you that embracing inferior copies may be a necessary step in the ascent towards the good and the true and the beautiful?’

Eugenio is silent.

‘Think about it. Ask yourself where we would be if there were no such things as ladders. Here is my bus. Until tomorrow, my friend.’

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