The character of Pistorius is an organ player who teaches Sinclair about the god Abraxas and what that stands for. Sinclair wants to learn more about Abraxas and Pistorius is willing to teach him.
“We’re going to do a little philosophy now. That means keep your mouth shut, lie on your stomach, and think.” (83).
At this point, Sinclair is desperate for information and will do anything that he says but is unable to understand what . In this instance, Sinclair is the addressee and Pistorius is the narrator. Pistorius then proceeded to light the fireplace in front of them and after about an hour of simply watching the flames, he throws a piece of resin into the flames in which Sinclair describes seeing shapes in the smoke and flames such as the return of the yellow sparrow hawk’s head, letters of the alphabet,faces, animals, plants, worms and snakes.
Only after lighting the fireplace is the gap between narrator and the addressee is filled. Before the resin is thrown into the fire, the information was still there and available for Sinclair, but to him at that moment, the task of laying on your stomach and staring at a fire did not serve any purpose to him. Pistorius had the bridge the gap to Sinclair and train him to be the ideal recipient of the information about Abraxas before “throwing the resin.” After Sinclair has no need to continue learning about Abraxas, he simply leaves because he no longer fills the role of addressee.
Another example of the rhetoric of narrative can be found within Franz Kromer. Kromer served as Sinclair’s first connection to the “dark” world, and his first connection to Demian. That’s why the events with Kromer are the first events of the book, and why Sinclair always wants to bring up Kromer to Demain. Sinclair’s memories of Kromer are his first monumental memories that were instrumental in his development- both in his own internal growth and as he grew in his relationship with Demian. Kromer played a very important role in Sinclair’s life. He pulled Sinclair away from the “light” world, which is the journey that we follow throughout the book.
“Now destiny was pursuing me; hands were reaching out for me that my mother could not protect me from, she muse never even find out about them, Whether my crime was stealing or lying (had I not sworn a false oath by God and everything holy?– that made no different. My sin was not this or that in particular. , my sin was that i had reached out my hand to the Devil. Why had i gone with him? Why had I listened to Kromer more obediently than I listened to my father? ” (12).
At this point, Sinclair is the narrator and it’s an area of intense self-reflection and regret. He realizes that he’s now left the safety and purity of the “light” world and stepped into the “dark” by associating with Kromer. This section seems to be almost as though he’s addressing himself more than anyone else, but I also think it’s intended to draw the audience’s attention to the fact that he has now left the “light” world, so that his return as the “prodigal son” in the next chapter (and his return to the “dark” world) will be more clear to the audience.
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