The Properties of Perpetual Light

        I found the first half of Julian Aguon’s The Properties of Perpetual Light extremely interesting. One aspect that stood out to me was the relationship that Aguon crafts between death and time. I found this particularly interesting in the context of our recent conversations in class. A specific instance that caught my attention occurs in the section titled “Yugo Means Yoke.” In this section, Aguon details his mindset the night before the death of his father. Talking about how he just wanted to experience a normal Halloween, Aguon writes, “I was dying to get out of there, dying to breathe some other aid, dying to have just a little bit of fun. But of course it was my dad who was dying”(33). Here, Aguon presents an interesting notion on how the way that one perceives death changes as they grow older. From the perspective of a child, Aguon simply wanted to live in the moment, not realizing the magnitude of what was occurring around him. Now, writing this novel from the perspective of an adult, Aguon emphasizes how naïve his mindset was as a child. Thus, this passage paints an interesting picture about the way that perspective interacts with time.

Aguon presents a similar commentary on perspective and time in a later section titled “Nirmal Hriday.” Here, Aguon reflects on a trip that he took to a Tibetan refugee camp. Detailing the children he encountered, Aguon writes, “What I remember most about that day is every one of those children looking light– looking unburdened by the crushing poverty that brought them there; looking wondrously carefree, as all children, when they are not being crushed, should look”(48-9). In this passage, Aguon builds upon the idea of perspective and time that he established earlier. Aguon reveals the lack of awareness that children have; it isn’t until they grow older that they realize the magnitude of the events occurring around them. Thus, Aguon arrives at the idea that a person’s perspective grows over time. While they may not know everything as a child, it is time and experience that teaches them how to interpret the events that are occurring around them.


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