Sea of Knowledge

Ian watched through swollen eyes as the flames slowly consumed the pages of text, a mass of humanity gathered around the small fire in hopes of leeching the resulting warmth from the air. A stern hand was placed on the boys shoulder as figure spoke in a rough voice. “When you steal books from us, you steal the fuel we need to live. This orphanage can barely survive as is, I will not tolerate a thief within our walls.” The words were spoken loud enough for the others to hear and it was this exchange that would spark Ian’s status as an outcast.

Ian could never foresee a future where books would be valued by those around him as anymore than fuel. There would always be the trade off, if he wanted to read he would have to risk being beat. Ian slowly emerged from the shadow of the door frame, mouth agape. Tombs of well maintained knowledge surrounded him. Ian’s blue gaze slowly shifted from the east to the west, the youth basking in the potential knowledge that lay before him. Slowly Ian moved into the center of the massive room placing himself directly between the feet of the two stair cases. “It’s so….” ‘Overwhelming, massive, intimidating’ were the thoughts that filled his mind. Ian’s youthful exuberance caused him to bypass the rational choice of locating a directory or legend as he turned himself west and plummeted into the philosophy section.

Plato, Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche…names but whispered as if to be only legends. Ian now found himself in the midst of their worlds, their thoughts stored on shelves awaiting an audience. Ian’s pace slowed as his right hand found his chin, his blue eyes slowly scanning the offering before him. An averaged sized tan book with simple black letters running down the side reading “The Will to Power” caught his attention as he quickly plucked it from the shelf. Ian was lost in the vast sea of knowledge, but with no life raft in sight he would he do his best to float.

What began as the reading of a single book had gradually turned into a massive spread of books hailing from different sections of the library. Ian had turned a large oak table in the northwest corner into his headquarters. Mr. Nietzsche decided that in order to understand his philosophy one also needed to understand European history as well as the works of other philosophers. The Will to Power was now being kept company by European history spanning the 17th to 20th century as well as philosophers such as Kant, Rousseau, Hobbs, Schopenhauer and others.

A small black notebook was placed in the middle of the table where Ian was jotting down notes. The youth was sat in the middle of the table against the wall. All of the open books were laying flat on the oak surface in square patterns. There was a two foot stack of closed books that was sitting on the southeast corner of the table. Quickly Ian’s hand brushed his shaggy hair back off his face and plucked the pencil from out behind his ear. “What is the great divide he sees between the old and new testament?”

There was so much talk about the soil in from which these ideas grew, it reminded him of his time in the greenhouse. So many philosophers claiming that their ideas and visions were of paramount importance. How was Ian to ever to separate the weeds from the flowers, to make sure he used the right roots and did not become infected with an intellectual poison? Although his fear was real it was not going to stop his exploration. His chin now rested in his hand as a yawn escaped his mouth. Although physically Ian felt fine mentally he was starting to become fatigued. The wide array of text was too much for the young man to really comprehend, he needed to up for air…he needed a lighthouse.