Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities is a very complex work. I have a difficult time
describing this book as a novel despite its length. There is a lack of
characters in the story. It is limited to the Kahn and Marco Polo with Marco
doing the vast majority of the talking. There are also characters described
from cities by Marco Polo but their realness comes into question as Marco’s
reliability as a storyteller is unclear.
On page nine, Marco is describing
the city of Dorothea. He recalls speaking to a camel driver who tells him, “I arrived here in my first youth, one
morning, many people were hurrying along the streets toward the market, the
women had fine teeth and looked you straight in the eye, three soldiers on
platform played the trumpet, and all around wheels turned and colored banners
fluttered in the wind. Before then I had known only the desert and caravan
routes. In the years that followed my eyes returned to contemplate the desert expanses
and the caravan routes; but now I know this pat is only one of many that opened
before me in Dorothea” (Calvino 9).
The camel driver’s description of
Dorothea comes after Marco’s description to the Kahn. Marco describes the
concrete buildings, statues and structures. He gives exact measurements and
quantitative accounts. Marco’s description is very static as he describes
nearly permanent fixtures of the city. The camel driver’s description is the
exact opposite. He describes the city as a moving mass, as he describes the
movements of the people in the city. Although the camel driver is content in
the city, years later he is filled with the desire to leave. He is unable to
understand the city and find meaning in it. That is why he wants to return to
the caravan routes, it is something that he knows. The camel driver’s account
is a great example of Calvino’s characteristics as a writer. He uses this
passage to convey the message that humans are unable to find a single meaning
in something (in this case a city). This is why the camel driver says he wants
to return to the desert.
I agree that people want to be comfortable and that usually comes with something that is not foreign to them. In this case, the camel driver is comfortable in the desert, which is why he desires to return. I do, however, have concerns about your last statement. You claim that the Calvino "uses this passage to convey the message that humans are unable to find a single meaning in something." If this were the case, why would the camel driver return to the desert? Did he find meaning there? The camel driver says, "but now I know this path is only one of many that opened before me in Dorothea." (Calvino 9), understanding that change is necessary and embracing it.
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ReplyDeleteWhen Marco Polo describes the city Dorothea, the city of desire, he specifically included some numerical details in it. When Marco Polo describes the city, he portrayed it in a positive light: a city that has bold and beautiful women, a triumphant atmosphere, and many other things. To the new-comer camel driver, who had only witnessed Caravan and dessert,everything about the city is new and alluring. But when he eventually decides to go back, does that necessarily say that he cant' find a meaning of life? I see it more as a mimic of a lot of people's life: they got out of the environment they were brought up from, entering into this new place of wonder, but towards the end, would they necessarily regard that place as a place they can call home? That's the message I got out from the story.
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