The Properties of Perpetual Light

 Katie Roessel

21st Century Literature and Time

10/17/22

 

         When reading the first half of this book, a quote from the very first few pages stuck out to me. Aguon says “This collection instead attempts to trace the arc of the morally strenuous spirit that drives so many writers to take pen to paper. It is an homage of sorts to the work of the activist-writer, which is the work of bearing witness, wrestling with the question of one’s day, telling the children the truth” (page 2). Very rarely does the author of any sort of work explicitly tell the reader their purpose to write or tell the reader the main theme. However, I think it is vital that Aguon informed us of this motive prior to getting into this collection of stories. By telling us from the start, us as readers will have the ability to take in the words of these people in the context that they were written in.

         The fact that this book is not a single narrative, but rather a collection of poems,

journal entries, and written narratives, some of which were never meant to be seen by anyone

else let alone published, further cements Aguon’s purpose of tracing the arc of the morally

strenuous spirit that drives activist-writers to write. It also demonstrates that the activist-writer is

not necessarily a specific type of person. The activist-writer is not always at the front of the

crowd leading demonstrations like Martin Luther King Jr., but they can be the average individual

effected by times of strife (in this case, the military action of the United States in Guam) inspired

to write their ideas down for someone in the future, whether it be themselves or thousands of

readers globally. By having different authors of different works from different points of time, we

as readers get the full scope of the effect U.S. militarization of Guam had on both the people and

the landscape. We’re hearing it from the mouths and pens of the individuals most effected

during that time. This book overall has the feeling of a time capsule, preserving the words and

memories of the people of Guam for the future to learn from.

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