Essay Questions

What types of philosophical viewpoints are present in the novel?

Through the use of two different characters, the narrator describes two different philosophical viewpoints often found in the modern world. The narrator represents the pragmatic viewpoint, the people who need to know the details concerning a certain subject. Because of this, the narrator does not have to rely on help from other people. This attitude makes the narrator be independent and capable of dealing with things on his own. Also, because of his pragmatic attitude, the narrator is able to avoid a large number of problems caused by a lack of knowledge. The second character has a romantic viewpoint when it comes to the world and he chooses to live in the moment. Because of this, the character refuses to think about the possible consequences of his actions and does not pay the appropriate amount of attention when it comes to taking care of his belongings and personal matters. Because of his insistence to live in the moment, the character who has no general knowledge has to rely on the help he can get from others. This makes him to be extremely dependent on other people and basically at the mercy of those around him. This dependency is described as an inherited negative aspect which makes the second character be in a constant state of stress because he is not able to take care of himself and of his belongings in a proper manner. Because of this, the romantic character is often criticized in the book as not possessing the skills to adapt to the modern world and as not being able to maneuver the modern society in an efficient way.

What does the bike represent in the novel?

The two male characters in the novel own a bike which they grow attached to. The two characters are described through their bikes and through the ways in which they decided to take care of those bikes. The characters come up with different approaches when it comes to maintaining their bikes, one choosing to learn how to take care of it on his own and then maintain it without outside help and the other refusing to learn how to maintain the bike and simply relying on others to fix it when it broke down. The bike is used here as a metaphor for the way in which a person may decide to deal with aspects concerning everyday life. The second character is the type of person who ignores the truths and the problems encountered every day and letting them accumulate until they can no longer be ignored. At that point, the problems are harder and more expensive to fix but the character is forced to do it no matter what. The character who chooses to maintain his bike as to avoid problems as much as possible is described as having a practical approach when it comes to life and this eventually save him a lot of trouble and makes him a much happier life or rather a bike which does not break down as often.

What is the “True Truth” mentioned in the novel?

The first character, the main male character, is obsessed by the pursuit of what is called the “true truth”. This is an allusion made to the major thought movement in Ancient Greece which was focused on making sense of the world thorough a logical way and not through religion. A great accent was put on finding the truth and there are many stories of philosophers trying to find the meaning of it. The general idea is that what a person perceives as being the truth is often far from it and only special people who put themselves into the right mindset can have access to the “true truth”. The major character tries to do this by having a pragmatic attitude and by always focusing on the practical aspects of life.