wonderful fool

i just finished shisaku endo's wonderful fool. i finished it in around 24 hours, including time spent sleeping and on football. so basically i was reading it whenever i could. because i was spellbound. i wanted to know what would happen next. i wanted to know why gaston came to japan.

i guess naivete can be a virtue. at least you won't be tainted by the world. i think this is the first time i actually consider foolishness a plus. or maybe it should be called innocent. at least it won't have those negative connotations.

but i guess someone like gaston can really change the lives of people, simply by being himself. which basically means being naive and singularly believing in his ideals. it rubs off people. people start out following you so as to watch over you, because they fear for your well-being. as time goes by, your singular belief will rub off them, and bit by bit win their admiration. although frankly, they wouldnt have known what really happened.

because someone like that is probably the last person someone would hold in high regard; often they would be viewed with derision.

now, suddenly i am thinking of Joan of Arc.

sometimes we need to be foolish, so that we can believe. so that the dream would still be alive.