Summary

Chapter u is titled “alone.” In numbers 524 through 537, the text offers a collage of contemplations on the fundamental human experience of being alone. Institutions such as democracy are defined as turning a human being’s attention onto the self and away from both externals and personal history. Lyricism and poetry are described in metaphorical terms that equate them to the experience of one prisoner in solitary confinement reaching out to another. In addition, there are several references to a person’s self, a person’s life, and a person’s body being all that that person truly has.

Chapter v is titled “it is much more important to be oneself than anything else.” In numbers 538 through 548, the text offers a collage of contemplations on the importance of valuing the self over everyone and anyone else. There are references to how experiences...