Mad Toy – Roberto Arlt

This week’s reading was much better than the last one in my opinion. I found it easier to follow along but also extremely entertaining.

I want to share my favourite paragraph from the reading.

“I seemed to see her outside of time and space, on a dark, dry plain,
with a sky so blue it was metallic. I was too small to walk, and she,
whipped by the shadows and frantic with worry, was walking along
the roadside, carrying me in her arms, warming my knees with her
breast, holding my small body stretched out against her tiny frame,
and she was begging for my sake, and while she was giving me her
breast, the heat of a sob dried her mouth, and she took the bread
from her hungering mouth for my mouth, the sleep from her nights,
in order to attend to my cries, and with her eyes shining, with her
body clothed in shameful rags, so small and so sad, she would open
like a veil to shelter my dreams.”
pg. 57

This quote really struck me. I find it absolutely beautiful. In my mind this passage is about the deep selflessness and unconditional love that a mother has for their child. The narrator looks at his mother and sees her carrying him as a child. He describes how his mother begs for bread and gives it to him even when she’s hungry too. He describes how his mother loses sleep to attend to his cries. Clearly his mother and him are quite poor but the narrator illustrates how his mother shelter his dreams like a veil. This, to me, shows the sacrifice that a mother (or parent) makes so that their children has opportunity for a better life.

I think this passage highlights one of the themes of childhood and point to the topic of growing up that is present in the novel. Silvio, in his rebellious youth, disobeys the law and hangs around with friends and then later on he realizes he needs to get a job. His journey reflects what many of us go through when we grow up. We realize at a certain point that we have to move on from our immature lifestyles and enter into the life of a grown up. Silvio explores his own identity and questions the meaning of life which I think is also an integral part of growing up. As kids we live in the moment and don’t feel the need to question our purpose and identity because we are naive and young. Personally I have thought a lot about my larger purpose in our world and am searching for something more meaningful to commit myself to.

Question: Why do you think questioning the meaning of life is apart of growing up? Do you think that this happens for everyone or do some people live their entire lives without ever pondering something deeper about their life?