Little Boy is a Postmodern Genius
Little Boy is also an ordinary child. He grows up in an upper-middle-class family in the early 1900s. Left to his own devices, Little Boy embarks on a journey that doesn’t seem to make any sense. He puts the same record on repeat. He watches stuff slide off of tables. He practices narcissism—he stares at mirrors to separate himself. From these experiences, he finally concludes that “the world composed and recomposed itself constantly in an endless process of dissatisfaction” (118). Little Boy’s idiosyncrasies are manifestations of his obsession with change, which naturally reflects the shifting ethnic, political, and economic landscape of his time. Grandfather isn’t so open to change, a quality best illustrated by his refusal to buy new clothes. He tells Little Boy stories, so-called “images of truth” (116). Naturally, Little Boy doesn’t sit back and accept them for the way they are. He sees these stories as “propositions that could be tested” (116). What Little Boy hears—a mix of what...