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The Black Pelican
Synopsis |
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The main character Vitus, who is still searching for his place in the world, suffers two devastating blows - one in his career and one in his personal life. Each time the impressionable Vitus finds the very same person blocking his path: Julian. And it is Julian who becomes the embodiment of all his misfortune, driving Vitus to the brink of a desperate revolt. He contemplates killing his rival Julian to prove that he is also worth something and able to retaliate. A plan that he calls "my secret," and one that becomes the main focus of his life.
Julian is sent to the town of M., a mysterious place enshrouded in a cloud of rumors. Vitus sees this as a sign of fate, for he has dreamed of traveling there for ages, and sets off after Julian with a loaded pistol in his suitcase. However, once in M., his plan turns out to be flawed: the search for Julian is futile, and the town itself is in no hurry to reveal its own secrets. Vitus feels as if he has reached a dead end and gradually becomes disheartened.
This feeling of being at a dead end - one that has tormented him for years - oppresses him even more than his temporary failure to unearth "the secret." Realizing that he has gotten into a muddle, he decides to make a paradoxical move - to go further, down to the ocean dunes. Not much is known about them; there are only a few fearsome legends, the main one being the legend of the Black Pelican, an encounter with whom can change anyone's life. Vitus convinces himself that the dunes are where he needs to continue searching for his enemy. He refuses to admit that his journey is no longer about Julian, but himself, and joins up with some random fellow travellers whose leader is the grave and merciless fortune hunter Gibbs.
For the hero, this journey is an event of immeasurable importance, but for his companions it is routine work. He wants to become friends with them, longs for their understanding and support, but they have no interest in him and brush him aside as if he were a fly. Only the women appear accommodating and willing, though it soon becomes clear that they are acting deceitfully and only using him in a dangerous scheme. As cover for themselves, they send him under false pretences to the treacherous waters, the place where the black pelicans hunt and one which everyone tries to avoid…
Yes, the Black Pelican turns out not to be a myth. And meeting him roils everything inside Vitus. Finally, the world takes notice of him and offers him the chance to demonstrate his potential, although it is a battle where the forces are discouragingly unequal. Now he can take an unvarnished look at everything that is and was in him: the only real intimacy - incest with his older sister; the only semblance of success - victories in an exotic board game; and the rest - nothing more than office monotony, betrayal by the woman he thought he loved with all his heart, and the notorious "secret," emerging from self-pity like the revenge of the vanquished… He has to experience suffering and fear, physical pain and immeasurable despair, but at the same time he discovers a fortitude that he had never known before. He endures defeat - those around him see it and ridicule him - but he also gains a small victory by refusing to go along with what is unacceptable to him, insisting on his own terms in spite of humiliation and mockery.
Vitus remains alive and almost unscathed. Little by little he recovers his strength and courage. He senses it through his relationships with people who found refuge in the fishing village bordering the dunes. But soon he begins to feel cramped, and later, without warning, Gibbs finds him again; although now Vitus foresees a soul mate in him, despite his recent deceit.
This meeting becomes the incentive for action. Vitus returns to the town of M. to pursue his new plan, a revision of the original "secret." He becomes more self-confident and no longer timid or dispirited. With the help of Gibbs's connections and his clever prostitute girlfriend, he finds Julian and acts in the only way possible - luring him to the ocean shore where he was once lured himself, to the place where the black pelicans come and land. No force is necessary, but he arranges it in a way that does not allow Julian to say no without humiliating himself, even if he suspects danger.
The outcome does not satisfy Vitus; his soul remains empty; and then on top of that, news comes of Gibbs's sudden death, which rocks him to the core. Yet, all of this only underscores his newly acquired inner strength. He leaves town victorious, not vanquished. He no longer cares about what happens to Julian, for everyone has their own path. Vitus realizes that the true meaning of his accomplishment lies not in his victory over the enemy, but in overcoming his former self. Seeing the world his own way, no longer trying to adapt to the expectations of others, - this is his small victory, well worth a slice of his life. "I know I don't have a secret any more," he says on leaving the town of M., "but I am no longer ashamed of myself."
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