Who am I?' you mean. He smiled at the question and gave what was at first glance a most oblique answer. Do you know what a fugue is? Are you changing the subject? No. I thought in silence for some distance before his answer arranged itself sensibly in my mind. I see. Two discrete sections of a fugue may not appear related, unless the listener has received the entire work, at which time the music's internal logic makes clear the relationship. A conversation with you is most invigorating, Russell.
The passage captures an intriguing dialogue between two characters, where one character poses a philosophical question about identity. The respondent reflects on the complexity of human understanding, using the concept of a fugue from music as a metaphor. The comparison suggests that just like the seemingly unrelated sections of a fugue come together as a cohesive whole when fully comprehended, so too can one's understanding of a person's identity evolve over...
