Role of Individual's Past In Shaping His Future

Throughout How to Read the Air, the author uses Jonas's attempts to understand his personal and parental histories as a means of exploring the role of one's past in shaping his possible future. Though Jonas seems initially unaware of the reasons he is compelled to recount his memories of Yosef, Mariam, and Angela, by the end of the novel, he discovers that each of his remembrances grants him clarity on who he is, where he has come from, and where he might belong next.

During his child- and adulthood, Jonas has never possessed much information regarding his parents' life before he was born; he was therefore incapable of perceiving them as distinct individuals outside the context of his growing up. It is not until after both Yosef and Mariam die, Jonas loses his teaching job, and he and Angela...