Even though Dan is constantly reminding himself that she is way out of his league he never truly believes it, so his sadly desperate attempts to change who he is to capture even the smallest amount of attention from Naomi continue. He even resorts to wishing for the impossible. "I want to be a few years older (preferably four or five). I want to be everything she could want." It's not until a conversation with Jacq that Dan wakes up and smells the flowers, finally coming to terms with the fact that he is who he is and he shouldn't want to be anything different to get a girl. Dan says "Remember what I"m aiming for here. Remember the kind of guy I need to be." Then Jacq responds, "The kind of guy you need to be? What's wrong with the kind of guy you are." By the end of the book, Dan has discovered that trying to be someone he's not is never going to get him that girl who is out of reach. Dan's fondness of Naomi was brought about by his desire to be someone other than the hopeless, pathetic loser he sees himself to be. Loving Naomi provided an excuse to escape from this self portrait and an opportunity reinvent himself. This notion is exemplified by Dan when he states that "Naomi's out of my league and back when I thought I hadn't a hope, her unattainability made my hopelessness feel like some kind of quest." Thankfully by the end of the novel Dan has not only grown up, but he realises that he is not the sorry loser he believes himself to be, which is an important message that needs to be communicated to the teenagers today. Jacq is an important person helping Dan through this realisation and towards the end of the novel, she gives Dan one piece of important advice with respect to life, love and what to expect, using basil as a metaphor.
"Is there some meaning in here that I"m not getting? Like a fable or something? .
NO, it's a basil story. A handy hint. A fable. What would it mean? Don't believe everything you"re told? Life is short, play hard? You should assume nothing with basil, that's all.
Diaspora was completed in 1992, the first of the Diaspora trilogy, made up of 288 canvas boards in the shades of brown, red, white and black. There are 48 paintings, each formed by 6 panels. ... The 288 pieces can be separated into a series of 48 (6-panel) paintings, which gives a deeper sense of displacement that emphasize the theme of Diaspora. ...
