The Invention of Morel

From very early in Casares' novella, I was struck by the peculiarity of the protagonist. The unabated curiosity of the character verges on the brink of insanity. His willingness to draw the rashest of conclusions with little to no forethought gives us insight on a man clearly stricken by paranoia. We are reminded often, as a result of his incessant worry of capture, that the man is a felon. Whether his mind has been tangled by fear or prolonged isolation, there is no doubt that he is in less than a stable mental condition.

However, as the story progresses the man appears increasingly intelligent, though clearly eccentric. Casares' fugitive certainly takes a while to discover that something is amiss with the people inhabiting the island. After all, were he not so fearful of capture, a simple attempt to talk to someone other than Faustine would have revealed their indifferent presence much earlier. In addition to this, his devotion to Faustine's image becomes the purpose of his existence, and in altering the records of the eternal week on the island, he preserved that. I find this unsettling, and more an act of obsession than of love. We must remember that he was willing to dive to her feet and profess his love before he knew she was only an image; the fugitive was in love with a woman he did not know. This is hard to believe, and some of his previous actions seem to support the theory that he was not entirely of good mind.

That said, the parallel meanings of the story are more commendable. The author's interest in Louise Brooks seems to provide a valid theory for some of the piece's themes. The fugitive literally refers to the people of the island as images, or pictures. This can be an allusion to films, perhaps starring Faustine's hollywood counterpart Brooks. The fugitive's inability to contact her - his being in a different dimension of sorts- is a metaphor of the separate worlds celebrities and "regular people" lead.