All The Names - Jose Saramago

ages, return to the world from which, by one last, unnecessary act of violence, they were removed. Just as
definitive death is the ultimate fruit of the will to forget, so the will to remember will perpetuate our
lives. Were I expecting you to express an opinion you would perhaps argue, with what you fondly imagine
to be subtlety, that such a perpetuity will be of no use to those who have died. That would be the argument
of one who sees no further than the end of his own nose. In that case, and always assuming I took the
trouble to respond, I would have to explain to you that I have been talking only about life here, not death,
and if you failed to realise that before, that is because you will never be capable of understanding
anything at all.
The reverential silence in which the final part of his speech had been heard was rudely shaken by the
sarcasm of those last words. The Registrar had gone back to being the boss they had always known,
arrogant and ironic, implacable in his judgements, rigorous as regards discipline, as he immediately went
on to demonstrate, Purely in your interests, not in mine, I must make it clear to you that you would be
making the biggest mistake of your lives if you were to consider the fact that I have spoken to you with an
open heart and mind a sign of personal weakness or a diminution of official authority. The reason I did not
simply issue an order for the reintegration or unification of the two archives to take place, without further
explanation, as I would have been perfectly entitled to do, was that I wanted you to understand the deeper
reasons behind the decision, it was because I wanted the work awaiting you to be carried out in the spirit
of one who feels he is engaged in building something and not with the sense of bureaucratic alienation of
one who has simply been ordered to put one set of papers together with another. Discipline in the Central
Registry will continue to be what it has always been, no distractions, no daydreaming, no word not
direcdy concerned with work, no unpunctuality, no negligence in matters of personal behaviour, in either
manners or appearance. Senhor José thought, He must mean me, because I haven't shaved, but this didn't
worry him, the reference was probably intended to be a general one, but, just in case, he lowered his head
very slowly, like a student who has not learned his lesson and wants to avoid being called to the
blackboard. It seemed that the speech had reached its end, but no one moved, they had to await the order
to go back to work, which is why they all jumped when the Registrar said in a loud, sharp tone, Senhor
José. Senhor José got swiftly to his feet, What can he want of me, he no longer thought that the reason for
that abrupt call could be his unshaven beard, something far more serious than a simple reprimand was
about to take place, or so he judged from the severe expression on the Registrars face, at least that was
what a terrible fear was beginning to scream at him inside his head when he saw the Registrar advancing
in his direction, stopping in front of him, Senhor José can barely breathe, he awaits the first word as a
condemned man waits for the blade to fall, for the rope to tighten or for the firing squad to shoot, then the
Registrar said, That beard. He then turned on his heel and signalled to his deputies for work to
recommence. There was a certain look of placid calm on his face now, an air of strange peace, as if he
too had come to the end of a day's work. No one will share these impressions with Senhor José, in the
first place, so as not to fill his head with even more fantasies, secondly, because the order is clear, No
word not direcdy concerned with work.