Ignatius is, in many respects, the perfect case study for appreciating art. Not in how he organizes his, because it’s a little insane, but in how he reacts to the world around him. Without any sense of pretence, he establishes an immediate connection with everyone and everything around him. He doesn’t buy into any hype, never doubts his judgment, and forms incredible connections very quickly.
What’s also remarkable about him, as he never gives anything a second thought, is just how successful he is. Rather than getting caught up in the mind-games and hysterics of modern criticism, he returns to a deeper form of understanding more based in the level of gut-reaction. But rather than simplifying his interaction with the world, it actually makes him more worthwhile in the scope of the novel.
We don’t often look at free-wheeling crackpots as bastions of art, but Ignatius might just be one. Feeling is something extinguished by so much of modern academia, and while I’m not discounting the importance of really understanding something, I think the power of feeling is underestimated. Ignatius is successful because he beckons by whims, and embraces the nature of his changing fortune. Rather than putting art on an unattainable pedestal and pushing the people upon it off for their inadequacy, perhaps the trick is to give into the moment, leave behind the pretension, and like and love for the little time we have to appreciate things which make us feel.
It’s just a thought. But Ignatius, after all, never thought too hard about anything.
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