Ghosts, Paul Auster

Paul Auster’s mystery novel, Ghosts, focuses on the main character, Blue and his experience as a secret-agent in New York City. Blue is hired by White to spy on Black but Blue does not understand the purpose of his mission since Black does nothing but read, write, and go around the neighborhood. However, after many years of investigating White’s case, Blue discovers that Black is actually a reflection of himself. Both Black and Blue realize that they are interconnected and know more about each other than they thought. Although it was difficult for me to capture the deeper or symbolic meaning behind the novel, I was able to notice Auster’s emphasis on the differences between storytelling and writing. Auster describes Blue as a troubled writer having a hard time distinguishing reality from imagination. For Blue, writing reports with facts about Black disappoints him. The lack of details causes him to start making up stories to make his reports sound full of activity. Therefore, through the character Blue, Auster presents to his readers this idea of storytelling giving life to writing.  

In addition, there were parts of the novel that caught my attention because they seemed to share a message with the reader. For instance, when Blue is thinking about the various stories he could add to the report about Black, he says, “This isn’t the story of my life, after all. I’m supposed to be writing about him, not myself” (25). This quote from the novel reminded me of the connection an author has with their writing. Since writing is a representation of the author then one is able learn about an author through their writing. So in the novel Blue is trying to suppress his thoughts, opinions, and imagination in order for his reports to focus directly on observations and facts about Black.

Also, when Blue is disguised as a bum and has a conversation with Black, they talk about how the ghosts of writers continue to roam the world.

“Many great men have gone there says Black. Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens-they all walked down this street and went into the church.

Ghosts.

Yes, there are ghosts all around us.” (64). 

This conversation not only gives the meaning behind the title but also explains why a reader is able to put themselves in the mind of an author when reading their books. Auster believes that readers are haunted by the ghosts of writers. Through Ghosts, he is showing how writers leave behind a spiritual force in their writing.