Ian...paused for a moment on the threshold and stared, overcome by a sudden sense of confronting, not the men and women who were his friends, but a gathering of souls. How strange we are to one another, he thought. Each soul was encased in flesh, bound by an envelope of skin, turned inward, immersed in silence. The soul was light, or flame--its heat small, ephemeral, easily extinguished. Ian stared and felt afraid: yet felt, in that instant, an uncanny happiness. He saw himself so brotherly, so deeply kindred to them all--these souls, these separate beings, whom he did not know.
In this passage from Joyce Carol Oates' "American Appetites," Ian experiences a profound moment of introspection as he observes his friends not merely as individuals but as distinct souls. This shift in perspective leads him to recognize the inherent strangeness of humanity, with each person encased in their own flesh and silence. He perceives the soul as a fragile, fleeting flame, evoking a mix of fear and an unexpected joy within...
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All the things you can talk about in anyone's work are the things that are least important.
Race of Cain, ascend to heaven, And cast God down upon the earth!
