The Zahir.
“While I was fighting, I heard other people speaking in the name of freedom, and the more they defended this unique right, the more enslaved they seemed to be to their parents wishes, to a marriage in which they had promised to stay with the other person for the rest of their lives, to the bathroom scales, to their diet, to half-finished projects, to lovers to whom they were incapable of saying No or It’s over, to weekends when they were obliged to have lunch with people they didn’t even like.
Slaves to luxury, to the appearance of luxury, to the appearance of the appearance of luxury.
Slaves to a life they had not chosen, but which they had decided to live because someone had managed to convince them that it was all for the best. And so their identical days and nights passed, days and nights, in which adventure was just a word in a book or an image on the television that was always on...
For a moment, I savour the idea of my new state: single and millionaire...The news will travel fast, and soon all kind of women, the young and not so young, the rich and not so rich as they would like to be, the intelligent and those trained to say only what they think I would like to hear, will all come knocking at my door...
Never forget, these rules were established long ago and must be respected. Who established these rules? That doesn't matter. Don't question them, because they will always apply, even if you don't agree with them."