Edward Fillery grows up shaped by the complex circumstances of his birth and upbringing and becomes aware that his way of perceiving the world differs from that of ordinary people as he develops a deep interest in human nature and consciousness, and the influence of his father and a foreign woman leaves him with both a sense of identity conflict and a strong capacity for empathy toward others, while his inner drive to explore the depths of human consciousness becomes increasingly powerful over time, and through this process he forms a perspective that goes beyond medical observation toward understanding the entirety of human existence, so that when he receives a letter about a mysterious young man named LeVallon he senses that his search may be entering a new and significant phase.
