The Childhood of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee
When they arrive in the town of Novilla, a child and a man are directed to a building with a large sign in Spanish that reads ‘Resettlement Centre’. The man seems to have had his memory wiped from him. The boy in turn has been separated from his parents, his identification washed away literally and metaphorically.
At the camp they are given names, David and Simon, clothed and taught rudimentary Spanish. The man is determined to reunite the boy with his mother; although he has not met her, he is certain he will know her when he sees her. They are treated in an offhand, but not unkind, manner. They are allocated an apartment and Simon is given a work permit and instructions to try the docks for employment. He gets a job unloading sacks of grain from what seems like a never-ending procession of ships. His workmates are a kindly bunch and treat him well. The foreman, Alvaro, teaches David chess while Simon works.
As ship after ship arrives and is unloaded, Simon wonders why they do not use a crane. When he brings this up with his colleagues, they are shocked and hurt: ‘What is wrong with our honest work; do we choose to do it because we are stupid?’ Alvaro explains that theirs is a labour that keeps them in touch with the food that gives them life, that they are proud of it. There is no place for Simon’s cleverness here.
One day, after taking a bus to the end of the line, David and Simon chance upon a palatial yet rundown home with a large tennis court. Two men and a woman are playing. Simon becomes certain that the woman, Ines, is the boy’s mother and implores her to take David, offering her their flat, his possessions and money, though they both know that she is not the boy’s biological mother. While he has grown to love the boy, Simon is prepared to give him up. In this new land everyone has been washed free of their memories and is free to create new ones. David is like everyone in his quest for a present and a future, but the nature of his urgency makes him different and unique.
Coetzee’s characters play with conflicting ideas in a way that is at once disarmingly simple and maddeningly convoluted. The result is a delightful, stimulating puzzle. The Childhood of Jesus is a beautiful yet complex work that will reward the reader handsomely.
