An Imaginary Life

Who is The Child? He is Enkidu. He is Mowgli. He is Neleus and Pelias. This mystical character is present in all cultures and all times. There are websites to this day about wild, feral children. The struggle between civilization and nature have been voiced in human expression since the oral tradition. The Child slowly changes as he becomes more familiar with Ovid. What Ovid doesn't know, is that he changes as well. The more things change, the more they stay the same. All that is past possesses the present. These concepts are prevalent throughout the book. Not only does it have direct references to Ovid's Metamorphosis. pg 64 - "I have stopped finding fault with creation and have learned to accept it. We have some power in us that knows its own ends. It is that that drives us on to what we must finally become. We have only to conceive of the possibility and somehow the spirit works in us to make it is the real metamorphosis. Our further selves are contained within us, as the leaves and blossoms are in the tree. We have only to find the spring and release it. Such changes are slow beyond imagination." These changes are the true metamorphosis. Beyond life into poetry. Beyond poetry into life. The two become indistinguishable. So than, why does The Child return to the wild? After all his experiences he chooses nature over civilization. He leaves and Ovid is left alone, but happy. He wants this in his soul. He knows it is right. The meaning of age is lost to him. As is his previous life in Rome. He is left to nature and in this knowledge he is happy.