"I believe in a long, prolonged, derangement of the senses in order to obtain the unknown."
I've been thinking about that quote a lot today. Actually, it's been stuck at the back of my head for a while, and surfaces once in a while for me to ponder. But lately the pondering won't stop. The more I think about it, the more I find that it is as vague as it is multifaceted. Now, I think I need to write out an analysis to at least satisfy myself, if not anyone else, on the meaning of the statement.
"I believe" it simple enough to start with. It is Mr. Morrison starting that this is first point of view is his and he believes it is correct. He is not stating that it is universally correct, he is not making the assumption that everyone else shares this view, but simply indicates that this is what he believes. "Long" has a couple meaning. It could be "long" in a geometric sense, as in, something that is elongated in one of its dimension. It can mean that it is full of content or space, for instance a long list or a long way. It can also mean a large portion or distance in time. Now at first I would have thought that it would be related to a period of time of which the derangement occurs. When looking at the word from a different point of view, I started to think of this derangement in terms of physical or representational space. It seems to me that this process that Jim is in terms with is like a journey, a long way to travel. when considering the rest of the text, it fits in well. I never imagined "The unknown" to be any wheres close to a person. After all what is around us is in our sights, and that's why we stay in that spot, because we enjoy t
he things around and their secure familiarity. When we go on a "long" journey, it is often to find something new to replace what we know (because we are not satisfied by what we know) or to expand on it (to heighten our perceptions, to make our vision acute but broad).I'll finish this late, need to pay attention to class now.
Also, read Huxley. Always.
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