Proust's genius has many facets. Here is another. He traces character development over the course of a lifetime and illustrates the ways in which different personalities embody different traits for specific periods wherein those traits are by no means universal and after which latent responsibilities become manifest, for another period (defined by an Event), a personally objective catalyst, angels becoming demons and vice versa every 2.6 years (in its most basic formulation), while also taking the time to mention the ways in which myriad subjective perceptions form a cultural perception of an individual (whose public personality often contradicts its private persona) once again for specific periods, and that these periods are layered on top of another in a profound social mosaic which simultaneously comprehends and can never understand an individual, as they change. "We all know you're soft cause we've all scene you dancing, we all know you're hard cause we've all scene you drinking from noon until noon again"(The Boy with the Arab Strap).