i think what’s so important to me about Erik as a character is that all he wants in this world is to be normal.
to be just like everyone else
he doesn’t want power or fancy stuff or anything other characters usually want.
he just wants to be normal.
it’s heartbreaking
Yes. :’( One of the saddest quotes in the novel is this one:
“Moi, il m’est impossible de continuer à vivre comme ça, au fond de la terre, dans un trou, comme une taupe! Don Juan triomphant est terminé, maintenant je veux vivre comme tout le monde. Je veux avoir une femme comme tout le monde et nous irons nous promener le dimanche. J’ai inventé un masque qui me fait la figure de n’importe qui. On ne se retournera même pas. […] Je veux avoir un appartement tranquille, avec des portes et des fenêtres ordinaires et une honnête femme dedans, comme tout le monde!…”
Translation:
“It’s impossible for me to continue living like this, in the depths of the earth, in a hole, like a mole! Don Juan Triumphant is finished; now I want to live like everybody. I want to have a wife like everyone and we shall go for walks on Sundays. I have invented a mask that makes me look like anybody. No one will even turn around. […] I want to have a quiet apartment, with ordinary doors and windows, and a devoted wife inside, just like everyone!…”
And the sad thing is that he - he who can accomplish anything, be it music or magic or architecture - cannot have the one thing he wants. His face is always there, and he can’t make it go away; he can hide it, but he still knows it’s there and it will never stop tormenting him. And even if his face was somehow healed, the hatred and bitterness he has developed throughout his life will never leave his heart.
It’s been said before, but I’ll just repeat it here: This is what makes Christine’s kiss so powerful and special - she accepts him as a man, a human being. In that moment, he really is no ghost or angel or genie, but really just Erik.
