Zemrude's Eyes

                       Zemrude is a city of whatever you perceive it to be. It is not the least bit deceiving to anybody that walk the streets of Zemrude. It states in the first line, “It is the mood of the beholder which gives the city of Zemrude its form.” It is based on the mood you give to this city that results in what will come screaming back at you. Nevertheless, he does come to the conclusion that in the end, after walking down the same streets redundantly, everyone will come to see Zemrude in the same perspective.

                       I pictured Zemrude in two different perspectives. There was the optimistic, glowing and happy city where the people would look up and see the sun shining on all the colors of the city that made it a happy and comfortable place to live in. On the other hand, there was the pessimistic, dark and sad city where the people would look down and see the black and damp pavement. The people looking down sees no color or happiness. The author describes that everyone living in this city end up in that negative view of the city. 

                        As I read Zemrude over and over again, it makes sense why Italo Calvino would categorized this city under “eyes”. This city is based on how the inhabitants “see” the city. Initially, they see the city in one perspective but then they end up seeing the city with eyes looking down and what they portray the city to be for what it really is. Meanwhile, the city had always remained the same in a sense that it physically hasn’t changed yet the eyes gazed upon it has changed its complete outlook on the city over a period of time. It makes me feel the way us as people are easily deceived by bright shining lights to later be disappointed to the truth of a particular matter. 

                     This city can relate to any place that we have once visited or resigned in that we initially felt happy and optimistic about. We look up to it as a beautiful and colorful place that we are proud of. After walking through this place a bunch of times you start to see all the imperfections and ugly parts to the place that we didn’t see before. We end up feeling lost and unhappy with the place we were once proud of. This makes me wonder what the author is stating about humans and the way we “see” things. In conclusion, I feel like this is a portrayal of how a majority of people always seem to  end up unhappy or dissatisfied  with something or some place that always remained the same and hasn’t changed.