ESCRITOS DE UN MINUTO PARA REFLEXIONAR UN RATO

The stories of Jason and the Argonauts, Janus, and Jacques in the novel I Want to Be Your Doudou all unfold as narratives about navigating the complexities of transition and transformation. Jason’s epic quest for the Golden Fleece, the dual-faced Janus who looks both to the past and the future, and Jacques’ reflective pilgrimage to Bordeaux to cope with solitude and loss are each embedded with rich symbolism about change and the human desire to reconcile with time. These stories, despite their different settings and contexts, illuminate the universal experience of seeking meaning through journeys—both physical and emotional—that challenge one to confront the past while stepping toward an uncertain future.

Jason’s Quest: A Hero’s Search for Purpose and Redemption

In ancient Greek mythology, Jason’s journey aboard the Argo serves as a metaphor for the human struggle to reclaim lost glory and confront unresolved trauma. Tasked with retrieving the Golden Fleece from the distant land of Colchis, Jason is driven by a need to restore his place in the world, having lost his rightful throne to the usurping Pelias. The journey is fraught with danger: monstrous creatures, treacherous waters, and the challenges of the Symplegades—clashing rocks that threaten to crush those who venture between them. Yet, Jason’s greatest challenges are not only external but internal, manifesting in his dependence on Medea, the woman whose love and magic help him succeed but later become sources of personal and emotional turmoil.

Jason’s expedition mirrors the hero’s journey, a quest to reclaim identity and purpose while navigating forces beyond his control. It is a voyage that, like the mythological Argo itself, traverses the seas of uncertainty, where every challenge reflects a deeper confrontation with one’s fears, desires, and unfulfilled ambitions. For Jason, the Golden Fleece symbolizes not just the political prize of kingship but a deeper need to validate his worth in the face of loss. However, even upon achieving his goal, the scars of the journey remain, revealing that the true challenge is not in the external prize but in reconciling with what he has become.

Janus: Guardian of Beginnings and Keeper of Time’s Duality

In Roman mythology, Janus embodies the paradox of change. As the god of beginnings and transitions, he watches over doorways and thresholds, symbolizing the passage between states of existence. His two faces—one looking to the past, the other to the future—suggest the inescapable nature of memory and anticipation, highlighting the tension that arises when one tries to move forward while remaining tethered to what has already been. Janus represents the liminal space between regret and hope, the moment before a new chapter opens and the door to the past fully closes.

For Jason, Janus’s symbolism is particularly resonant. His quest for the Golden Fleece is not just about reaching a destination but about navigating the transition between a displaced past and an uncertain future. Just as Janus oversees transitions, Jason’s journey involves crossing literal and metaphorical thresholds—moving from the safety of known waters into the unpredictable dangers of the Black Sea, or from the confidence of youthful ambition to the disillusionment of a hero whose triumphs cannot fully heal inner wounds. Jason’s dual struggle mirrors the duality of Janus: he is a man looking back on a legacy that was taken from him, while attempting to shape a future defined by newfound power and the ghosts of choices he made along the way.

Jacques: A Pilgrim’s Solitude and the Search for Connection

In the novel I Want to Be Your Doudou, Jacques sets out on a pilgrimage to Bordeaux as a means to cope with his solitude and confront the ghosts of past relationships. His journey, much like Jason’s, is both external and internal. While Jason sails toward the distant and dangerous lands of Colchis, Jacques embarks on a more introspective journey—a quest through memories, regrets, and longings for connection. Haunted by the belief that relationships turn people into “living memories”—figures who linger in the mind long after physical connections have ended—Jacques is drawn toward the idea of the Camino de Santiago, a spiritual path that promises the possibility of renewal through introspection and physical endurance.

Jacques, like Janus, is caught between past and future. He is a man who perceives himself as a “corpse,” burdened by the weight of missed opportunities for forgiveness and happiness. His desire to become Claire’s doudou—a source of comfort and reassurance—reflects his yearning to transcend his own loneliness by offering solace to another. Yet, in his attempt to provide this comfort, he grapples with his own vulnerabilities, recognizing that the past is not easily left behind, even in new places or relationships. Jacques’ journey thus becomes a meditation on loss, desire, and the quest for a sense of belonging amidst the uncertainties of life.

The Shared Themes: Quests for Identity and Transformation

The stories of Jason, Janus, and Jacques intersect through their shared focus on the passage of time and the struggle to reconcile with one’s past while facing the future. Each figure represents a different facet of the human experience with change: Jason, the hero, embarks on a quest for external validation, only to find that the journey transforms him more than the prize; Janus, the gatekeeper, embodies the tension between what has been and what is yet to come, reminding us that true beginnings are always tinged with memory; and Jacques, the wanderer, seeks to find meaning in the spaces between relationships, using the act of travel to bridge the distance between loss and hope.

Ultimately, these narratives explore how transitions shape the soul. Whether through the treacherous waters of myth, the cosmic guardianship of doorways, or the contemplative steps of a pilgrim, each story suggests that life’s journey is not simply about reaching a destination but about embracing the uncertainties that lie in the spaces between. As Janus looks forward and back, Jason and Jacques reflect on their own paths, revealing that it is through these journeys—both physical and internal—that we come to understand the complex interplay between who we were, who we are, and who we might yet become.