Personal Interpretation of "Piranesi"

I finished reading "Piranesi" by Susanna Clarke a few weeks ago. And yes, I know, I am late to the party. "Piranesi" tells the story of an adult man stuck in this labyrinth-like place. The book didn't strike me as anything that could be interpreted psychologically; however, looking back at some of the passages that I've highlighted throughout the book, I've come to realise that I could share them in this blog post and try my best to link them to personal experiences and psychological theories. Initially, we have no clue how he ended up in that world, and neither does Piranesi, the young adult man. The name Piranesi was given to him by the other inhabitant of the labyrinth-like world, "The Other". The Other is described as an older man who is quite knowledgeable and conducts these meetings with Piranesi every week.

Writing inculcates habits of precision and carefulness. The second is to preserve whatever knowledge I possess…

Writing as a whole has been something I've been very cautious about. I was taught the importance of letters and words and how much meaning they can contain. The written word holds a significant value on my Swedish and Lebanese sides. The written word in the Arabic language holds particular value due to the symbol it has become of both Islamic faith and civilisation. (https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/SSR/article/download/114/134) .

On the other hand, writing holds excellent value in psychological practice; reflective practice is a valuable tool used by many practitioner psychologists for their personal development. As an aspiring practitioner psychologist, I have tried and still try in reflective practice. However, reflective practice is not only exclusive to practitioner psychologists. Journalism is viewed by many as a great coping mechanism. Journalism aims to make you dig deeper, or maybe more hallow. Think a little harder, or not that hard at all, to help you reflect on your day. The beauty of journaling lies in its flexibility. I have personally tried my luck with journaling, though I am incredibly inconsistent, and it is something that I aim to do better in the future.

Is it disrespectful to the House to love some Statues more than the others? I sometimes ask Myself this question. It is my belief that the House itself loves and blesses equally everything that it has created. Should I try to do the same? Yet, at the same time, I can see that it is in the nature of men to prefer one thing to another, to find one thing more meaningful than another.

Pondering this quote made me interpret Piranesi's view of the House as a deity, a God of some sort. Piranesi wonders whether admiring some of the House's creations more than the others negates them and worries that doing so disrespects the other creations that the House created. Yet, Piranesi acknowledges humans' flaws (or strengths) in harbouring different opinions and preferences.

In my personal experience, being raised in a religious family, I was constantly tainted by the thoughts and dilemmas of different religious interpretations. I was constantly afraid of doing anything that would go against the religious values that I was taught, and I would like to trace my proneness of overthinking back to that. I was vulnerable to varying interpretations of how I should act, behave or think.

This led to a life of isolation where I tended to isolate and withdraw from social interactions with other people. I was alone with my thoughts and was in a pretty dark place early on in my life. I viewed life as white and black and did not see much of a grey area. I did not understand nor acknowledge the nature of interpretation.

I did not realise till later in my life and started broadening my horizon that there was much more to life. One does not have to restrict oneself to the interpretation of a few and should find the right approach tailored to oneself. I believe this applies to a lot of stuff in life. Such as the right philosophy, the proper exercise that suits your body, the right sport or the right food that suits you.

Just because you were brought up in an environment where pilates is a thing does not mean that yoga is not the right thing for you. I found exploring and breaking out of this isolating bubble that restricts one's thoughts and emotions valuable. Hence, I believe being vulnerable, exposed, and open to different ideas is important. As a human being, I think this is what we are set off to do. Seek the interpretation of life that suits you, or make your own one as long as you feel content. Do not seek to harm yourself and your thinking for the pleasure and happiness of others. Just because their interpretation of life works well for them does not mean that it will work well for you.