The Rules of the Game

Good boys and girls who know the rules of the game will want to get through school quickly, with as little trouble as possible, and move on to an adulthood where they don’t have to take orders from guards set over them, but can do as they please, and likewise get through life with as little trouble as possible, passing the baton on to the next generation.

The little boy who is a quick study and attracts the attention and admiration of his teachers will suffer through life as an adult, because the teachers who praise him for his learning do not understand what it is that he learns, themselves being the kind who would like to get through life with as little trouble as possible. They do not know how to aid him. He will have to find his way through life on his own, not knowing the signs, unable to get his bearings amongst those who know the rules of the game because he is interested in understanding their origin, which places him at an infinite remove from them, who could otherwise be his playmates, but who ultimately find him queer and do not know how to aid him, either, who would very much like a helpful guardian to appear. The books from which he learns are the documents of the sufferings of those like himself, alive to the same knowledge that the others do not know, hailing him – friend! –  while off they go into the night on their own bark, leaving him again alone.