The Interesting Effect of Perspective and Repeated Themes

             As is clearly evident in the first page, this book seems to be about a character of contradictions. He believes in superstitions yet he is educated enough to not have to believe in superstitions. Another highly repetitive theme is his spite, he will not go to the doctor out of spite, he will not take a bribe out of spite, and he even describes himself as a spiteful man. Yet the fact that the character is actually a man is questionable, as the initial footnote stated that neither the man nor the journal actually exist, yet they can be found in society. This can either lead to the conclusion that the author is just clarifying that these notes are imaginary in our world and that there was no man who actually wrote these notes, or the author could be referring to the actual setting of the notes themselves, the idea that the notes are imaginary in the setting of the imaginary character. It all depends on the interpretation of the footnote, whether it is supposed to be an afterthought within the journal, or a commentary on the journal in this world.