(My thoughts before group discussion)
My first impression of Esteban and his reception amongst the village is rather Jungian. Esteban, being a lifeless corpse, is ideal to receive the projections of people's shadows placed on it. Both the children and adults impose a character onto him for both their own personal satisfaction and the greater good of the village.
I was quick to draw a connection to the short story "Will you Always Love Me," which we read in Benedict's last year. The author discusses what love truly is in a relationship. She suggests that we fall in love with the unknown in a person, for it allows us to substitute and explore our own personal subconscious. However, in a relationship, eventually there is less and less room for unknown. however Esteban has no objections or identity to his own; thus he is the perfect person for the village with whom to have a relationship.
This is how heroes and legends are born, out a single anomaly onto which humankind may bestow its oceanic imagination. culture is formed from the projections of our collective unconscious unified by the common experiencing of profound and unique events. The final narrative in this story bring into perspective how the coming of Esteban allowed the villagers to be great. In a way, this is a parody of all the world's other Messiahs, legends such as Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad and how by the will of the collective people they are exalted to become avatars of human ideal. However the author clearly does not seek to mock those of worship, only to glorify the imaginative prowess of mankind.
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