Quince and Alexander Engage in a Discussion On the Nature of the Soul

12/17 Digression from Q, the Elder: On our drive to Pilanesburg on Friday, Alexander and Quince got into a very interesting discussion about “the soul.” It is necessary to put the “soul” conversation into context, filling in several pieces of background information: Alexander, as Caroline has said, seems to really like his school and has made good friends there. Caroline had also mentioned to at some point after my arrival here that Quince wasn’t as happy at her school partly because some of the girls at her school are pretty mean. In addition, you may recall Caroline’s earlier post about Quince’s school being a Catholic school, and Quince’s frustration at not being as “artistic” as her classmates -- with Caroline discovering that what Quince was referring to was a color-by-number Jesus assignment. Then, on our drive to Marepanga the day prior to this conversation about the soul, we go into a discussion about Alexander and Quince’s respective schools. On that drive, Quince’s complaint wasn’t the mean girls; rather, her complaint was expressed the following way, in a very irritated and insistent tone of voice: “I don’t LIKE my school. It’s always ‘God THIS. And God THAT. And Jesus THIS. And Jesus THAT. Six hours a day. I don’t LIKE it.'" That’s the background.

So, on our drive to Pilanesburg on Friday, Quince and Alexander get into a heated dialogue about the nature of the soul. Quince started the discussion, wanting to talk about how “hating” someone impacts you negatively. Alexander jumps in: “Your soul is an imaginary thing. It’s your personality. If I die, my soul comes out.” Quince resolutely returns to her chosen subject: “It is harder to put an impact on your own soul than someone else’s soul. So, if you hate someone, it will impact that person’s soul.” My St. Johns College Great Books self REALLY wanted to ask her more questions, because I really didn’t yet understand what she was conveying, but given the dynamic between her and Alexander described in the previous-blog-post about the Pilanesburg Game Reserve, I chose not to engage in Socratic dialogue with her at that point. But I am still very very curious....