of World War II. This allows Duffy to subtly introduce to the reader the question of whether their attempts had any meaning at all, without in any way detracting from the significance of each individual's contribution to our store of human knowledge. He demonstrates the further complication of their attempts by introducing the uniquely human aspects of each individual's search for meaning. In addition, he discusses the academic contributions of each individual by relaying them through a character in the book, thus maintaining the narrative while filtering possibly esoteric and difficult concepts for the reader.
Duffy's portrayal of Wittgenstein is sympathetic but unabashedly ambiguous. It is necessarily so, however, for Wittgenstein, himself, recognized the inability to define life in a clear, linear manner. He viewed life
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