Genius

Sibylla’s constant, circuitous contemplation of her son’s unusual intellect helps to reveal the mystery—and relative randomness—of genius. For much of Part I, Sibylla obsesses over the circumstances that result in Ludo’s birth. She understands that even a slight variation in the events in her life might have precluded her son’s genius. She speculates that “if I had not read Roemer on the 30th of April 1985 the world would be short a genius… I have no idea if this is true; I have no way of knowing if this is true” (27). Here, Sibylla emphasizes the mystery at the heart of Ludo’s brilliance. An endless sequence of factors, determinants, and events make up each moment, thus she has “no way of knowing” the source of her son’s genius. Importantly, Sibylla refuses to suggest that she is, in any way, responsible...