Northern Italy was always the beginning, for him. It was the place where he entered into being, and it is the place where all of his convictions originate.

He is an improbable character. He sees only shadows of things. Suspects that he is different, because he is seen more clearly by others than he sees himself. It is a sort of compassionate paranoia that distorts his perception of reality, allows him to believe he is considering the interests of others, while he obeys primarily a sense of his own importance. This could be called humility, or it could be called the scientific method, a healthy skepticism. Or, it could be called delusion. But the truth is that he is generally enigmatic and seething. There flow from him unusual temptations to begin to know what one has not known before. In this, it has been agreed, by some who know him, that indeed he is different from others.

An affiliation of charisma and encouragement motivates the flock of attractions that follow him. Is he resilient, as an individual, beneath this barrage of attention? Can he overlook the way he is looked at by women? By other men? He thinks so. But wagers could be made.

Everything revolves around descending from the mountains. The Mountains. His youth, his ancestry, his sense of obligation to the living world. He has an Olympian mentality, that all of his actions must abide by some sense of service to others, but he couples with this expansive devotion a sense that his own talents are themselves a service to others, that his existence is a gift not only to himself but to the world.

There is perhaps no way to measure the complications implied by his inferences. Pietro emanates a sense of human dignity, of the dignity of being an individual and of using one's own talents to improve the conditions of others. However, with his thoughts about dignity, service and the individual, he never fails to consider his own needs and desires, and he is never ashamed to assert his right to the enlightened pursuit of happiness, which by extension is meant to support the liberty of all individuals.

It is exceedingly difficult to love such a character, and equally difficult to exhibit his inner life for discussion. He might well be unaware of the pain his vitality can foment in others. But wagers could be made.

© 2002 Joseph Robertson

 

PIETRO
JOSEPH ROBERTSON

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