...Before Turning the Gun on Himself

Me and this fat kid, 

we ran, we ate, and read books. 

And it was the best.

Structuralism is based on the assumption that concepts exist in differentiation via contrast and conflict with their binary opposites. The concept of “calm” is embodied by its counterpart, “unrest”. “X” is defined as “not Y”. This structure forms language. The post-structuralist argues that if the meaning of a word is bound up in what does not mean, then meaning is not achieved. If “love” means “the opposite of hate”, this says more about what “love” is not than what it is. 

The structuralist would tell me that I am defined more by what I am not than anything else. I am not happy. I am not wanted. I am not whole. But I am not an antonym to any of these. The post structuralist will tell me that my lacking is not enough to define me, and that my meaning escapes through the cracks in what I am not. But this leaves me nameless.