The Eyes and the Impossible

Dave Eggers took inspiration from Golden Gate Park when creating Johannes’s home. The author lives in the San Francisco Bay area and often visits the public park, which was “created on 1013 acres of windswept sand dunes” in 1870 (“History of Golden Gate Park.” San Francisco Recreation and Parks, 8 Apr. 2024). Johannes’s home resembles Golden Gate Park in its proximity to the ocean and its massive size: The protagonist lives in a “vast green and windblown park by the sea” (11), and the hyperbolic canine estimates that it is “ten thousand miles along its length and about three thousand along its width” (14). Eggers references some of the park’s structures in his novel. For example, the “white-glass cathedral of flowers” is a nod to the Conservatory of Flowers (31). Opened in 1879, this “Victorian confection of wood and glass” is the park’s oldest building and houses over 1,000 species of plants (“Golden Gate Park Points of Interest.” San Francisco Recreation and Parks, 8 Apr. 2024). The park is also home to the de Young Museum of art. In the novel, Johannes’s fascination with art and his friends’ plan to sneak him into a newly opened art museum play an important role in the plot and the story’s exploration of The Importance of Beauty and Balance. Golden Gate Park inspired the novel’s primary setting and influences the novel’s treatment of beauty and balance.

Golden Gate Park also shapes the novel’s cast of characters. The author’s experiences in the park helped him craft his protagonist’s perspective:

There’s not that much difference between the way Johannes sees the world and the way I do when I’m moving through nature. I was just in Golden Gate Park today on my bike, and my thoughts could have easily been Johannes’s. That exultation in speed, moving quickly through green fragrant space (Norman, Taylor. “A Conversation with Dave Eggers about His Book, The Eyes and the Impossible.” McSweeney’s Books, 2 Oct. 2023).

The real park’s beauty contributed to the fictional protagonist’s exuberance and influenced the types of animals present in the story. Since 1892, a herd of American bison has lived in Golden Gate Park. The park in Eggers’s story is ruled by three bison who live in a paddock and thus rely on Johannes to be their eyes.

The geographical context of Eggers’s narrative introduces both challenges and opportunities to the characters. In particular, coexisting with humans can be a struggle for the animals. While most of the park’s visitors respect the wildlife from a safe distance, Johannes and his friends contend with a thief who wishes to claim the protagonist as his pet, as well as Animal Control personnel who seek to capture the coyote-dog. Similarly, Golden Gate Park welcomes millions of visitors each year while serving as the home for thousands of animals. Eggers observes, “[S]ome urban parks here in Northern California are still very wild [...] and they have a vast array of wildlife within. The interactions with humans are going to be fraught, always, but it can work” (Norman, Taylor. “A Conversation with Dave Eggers about His Book, The Eyes and the Impossible.” McSweeney’s Books, 2 Oct. 2023). This tension contributes to the story’s theme of balance and message of environmental conservation. On the other hand, the park’s location also benefits the characters. Because of his home’s proximity to the sea, Johannes is able to concoct an escape plan involving a ship to seek out new adventures and greater freedom in the story’s resolution. While Johannes’s home is a fictional place, the setting takes inspiration from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, providing a real world, geographical context that impacts the characters, plot, and themes.