The main theme of this story is the rise and fall of the Self. The Self in question is no ordinary self; it is the Transcendental Self, whose nature and ambitions are unprecedentedly arrogant, cosmic, and often obscure. Put modestly, this universal Self is human nature; in less modest terms, it is nothing less that God, the Absolute Self, the World Soul. While recognizing the centrality of the question of knowledge, Professor Solomon focuses too on the broader picture of subjectivity, which includes ethics, aesthetics, and religion.