Spiritual annihilation: I think this is precisely what Emilio experienced at the end of the book. However, since Emilio defines himself most with his spiritual side, this did amount to self-annihilation for him. As I pointed out in class, the mission's members were very unreceptive of the signs around them. Emilio's late experience if anything, lead him to wake up from a long sleep. Yes, it was a bitter experience but it allowed Emilio to question how he made sense of his life and his surroundings. I think I made the claim that this was a test for Emilio's sanity: I take that claim back. I think what he experienced is considered generally wrong in 2 planets: 1. On page 260, we read that most Jana'ata "do not even like music," (sadly, an information which was never scrutinized) 2. It is considered morally wrong to "invade" someone else's body against his/her consent. Will Emilio ever recover? I guess I'll learn that soon. However, how can one reconcile with bitter experiences of their past?
On a broader scale...how could the oppressed come to love his oppressor? How could one come to terms with their past mistakes? How could Tutsis and Hutus reconcile after so many bitter memories? How can we avert each other's nightmares, when we-ourselves- are incompetent of dreaming... each other's dreams?
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