Was the nefarious darkness a caused by John’s amnesia, a parallel universe, or mental illness

[Valerie Garske]

It is still unclear if the nefarious darkness was a result of John’s amnesia, a parallel universe, or mental illness. I think the book was obscure, and I really never understood the manifestation of the darkness? Can anyone explain without spoilers?

[asteel18]

I was confused by this as well. Maybe I didn't think about it in-depth, but I honestly thought he just had amnesia that was somehow blocking him from anything related to the new building. I saw some of the crazy at the end of course, but I don't know if he was always that way and hiding it, or just flipped at some point.

[Atieno Magero]

I think that the darkness was caused by both John's amnesia and mental illness. I got the feeling that John wasn't just suffering from amnesia but mental illness.

[Chukwuebuka Ifedigbo]

This perplexed me, too though. Apparently I didn't think about it carefully enough, but I genuinely believed he was suffering from amnesia, which was preventing him from learning about the new structure. Of course, I witnessed some of the craziness in the end, but I'm not sure if he was always like this and simply kept it hidden, or if he switched at some point.

[Maggie Johnson 2]

At first I thought the darkness was caused by the amnesia, but as the book went on, I started to think it had more to do with John's mental state.

[Tina Masha 1]

I initially assumed the darkness was due to the amnesia, but as the novel progressed, I began to believe it was due to John's mental state. Making it difficult to comprehend how he felt about his circumstances.

[Obi Egbuniwe]

I think it's a more abstract and metaphoric device introduced by the author to attempt to characterize the immense trauma and turmoil John and the city are going through. That's how I interpreted it and it worked out for me.

[Fajarr]

I initially assumed the darkness was due to the amnesia, but as the novel progressed, I began to believe it was due to John's mental state. Making it difficult to comprehend how he felt about his circumstances.

[Shridhar Suryawanshi]

I think that the author purposefully felt the details were vague, but I would guess that the darkness was caused by amnesia.