The Van Gogh Deception

“No one seemed to notice the boy—no one but him. Everyone else just passed through the room as if the boy didn’t exist, or was invisible.”

Art is first introduced in a scene of doubling where he sees his reflection but does not recognize it as his own. The description highlights his diagnosis of dissociative amnesia and the ways Art feels disconnected from his own identity. Art has experienced a traumatic event that has left him feeling unsafe, alone, and a stranger to himself. He feels “invisible” and nonexistent, and his sense of isolation and the impression that no one around him cares compound his state of vulnerability.

“We must make an effort like the lost, like the desperate.”

The epigraph is an excerpt from Vincent van Gogh’s letter to his brother, Theo, and highlights Part 1’s focus on Art’s vulnerability. Without his memory, Art feels “lost” and “desperate” and is generally timid in his interactions with the Sullivans. However, van Gogh’s plea to “make an effort” foreshadows Art’s resilience and persistence as he delves into his past to recover his identity. The original line from van Gogh’s letter refers to the passion of painting and is a critique of one of van Gogh’s contemporaries whose works he found to lack vitality. In the original letter, the line that precedes the quotation reads, “A bit more passion or emotion would do him no harm, a little more self-confidence and a little more daring” (“Vincent van Gough: The Letters.