Ultimate knowledge can't be reached

I have recently been reading the book from Salman Rushdie; it is a book full of different stories. “The Harmony of the Spheres” is the tale that brings me to this subject. Like my professor said before even reading this story, It is still a typical Salman Rushdie story but it has a more serious side. In this story the reality of mental disorders comes into play. Elliot Crane is the character in the story that eventually drives himself to go crazy. Elliot has this ambition to feed, or even stuff himself full of the wisdom and knowledge of the world’s mysteries. He is the man who strives to find out why the pyramids are there and how they got there, he knows all about how to bring the devil upon you or keep it away. Elliot was so engulfed in his obsession with this knowledge that eventually it took him under control. I heard this peace of writing the other day from a friend and it was talking about the fact that when someone spends there whole life trying to achieve one small goal (like knowledge) it can lead to dissatisfaction or a sense of failure. In Elliot’s case his goal of ultimate knowledge can’t be reached, so it drove him mad trying.

As one begins to fall prey to his own mind, one begins to fall away from those around him. Elliot soon began to distance himself from the people who were close. His wife and good friend were the main people who he was starting to scare by his awkward behavior. His mind stared to think that all people either worked for some government agency per say or was an alien trying to steal all his Ideas and thoughts. This all makes sense, he has gone mad trying to gain an impossible amount of knowledge of the universe, and it has taken up his life and caused a chain reaction of. He eventually ended everything by taking the quick and easy way to get away from his pain. He killed himself to run from his life. He was so caught up in his knowledge that eventually he was so deep he could get out, the people who could help were pushed away.

I feel that in this case Elliot would have lived a better life if only he had lived a life worth living. He should not have been so adamant on the things he was. I know this is funny to say considering he had a mental disability. The only thing I can see id that this happened because of him self. I pray that anything like this, any type of mental disorder doesn’t reach me any time soon. It is s very scary thing to think about and even more horrifying to face. All things happen for a reason.