“They (the lovers) are their own judges. Love is a holy mystery and ought to be hidden from all other eyes, whatever happens” (Meagan Adler)

After tonight’s reading, I was again analytically captivated by idea that the narrator is stuck at the love/belongingness stage of Maslow’s hierarchy and unable to see himself for whom he truly is because he is unable to self-actualize.  We see his desperate need for love, the “priceless diamond” (pg.69), when he says, “with love one can live even without happiness” (pg.64); here, we see that the narrator needs emotional consolation so that he can feel respected by another person, which will allow him to respect himself and self-actualize.  We know that the narrator is emotionally neglected, as he expresses that he grew up without a home and reflects that that is the reason why he is so “unfeeling” (pg.65).  He also expresses that “They (the lovers) are their own judges.  Love is a holy mystery and ought to be hidden from all other eyes, whatever happens” (pg.67); this is a particularly powerful moment, for we see that the narrator needs someone who will love him unconditionally.  I think that he sees love as such a powerful force because it is internally and not socially defined.  Also, towards the end of tonight’s reading the narrator fabricates a lie in writing an apologetic letter to Simonov; at this point we see the narrator wants to feel a sense of belongingness that he does not feel.  Psychologically, I believe that the narrator is incapable of truly seeing himself until he moves past this stage in Maslow’s hierarchy.