The Blind Owl

“In life there are wounds that, like leprosy, silently scrape at and consume the soul, in solitude.”

This is the opening line of The Blind Owl. It prefaces the narrator’s motivation for telling his story: He has had to bear his “wound” alone and it has been leading him to regard Death as an Ideal Eternal State. Later, it will be revealed that his “wound” is his unrealized desire for the young woman.

“I only write for my shadow that, in front of the lamp, is cast on the wall, I must introduce myself to him.”

The narrator disdains the rest of humanity, describing them as rabble. Instead, he is telling the story to a reflection of himself, his shadow. The concept of reflections in the form of shadows and mirrors is important symbolism that reoccurs throughout the text (See: Symbols & Motifs).

“The damsel was right in front of me, but it seemed as if she was completely unaware of her surroundings […] and my lifeblood fell onto those meaningful and shiny globes and was absorbed into their depths—this mesmerizing looking glass pulled at my entire being to the point where the mind of man becomes feeble.”

The sight of the “damsel” is the inciting incident that precipitates the narrator’s decline into substance misuse and “madness.” He describes her as a “mesmerizing looking glass,” which suggests that part of what he sees in her is in fact his own self-image. She is a reflection of his own ego.