“The more you know, the more problems you have”

Gecko’s saying, “The more you know, the more problems you have,” gives Ajo Kawir a reason to stop seeking explanations for the suffering and violence that have shaped his life. Recalled as he drives home to reunite with Iteung and their daughter, it turns uncertainty into a deliberate choice: he can ask questions, but decides that knowing more would not necessarily make his life better.

The Saying and Its Speaker

Gecko had once offered the phrase as a compact warning about knowledge and its burdens. The story does not present it as a general rule proved through argument; instead, its force comes from Ajo Kawir’s later decision to take it seriously. The saying returns in a moment when he is trying to make sense of events that have left him with more questions than answers.

Ajo Kawir’s Unanswered Questions

Ajo Kawir wonders why Uncle Bunny sent people to Krakatoa Crater and wanted the Tiger dead, why Agus Cornpipe had to die, and why Scarlet Blush had to go crazy. His questions extend beyond individual tragedies to the existence of crazy women and to whether some hidden force lies behind all that has happened—including his Bird’s refusal to stand up. He cannot identify where these events began or where they will end, and the explanations he has received have been too scarce to make the pattern intelligible.

Choosing Not to Know

Ajo Kawir considers asking Iwan Angsa, Ki Jempes, or Uncle Bunny, all of whom might be able to tell him more. He finally chooses not to ask. The decision is not a discovery that resolves the mysteries; it is a refusal to pursue them. He understands the Bird as one problem that has already been enough to destroy his life, and does not want further knowledge to bring further problems.

The Saying’s Place in the Ending

The phrase is recalled as Ajo Kawir drives toward home, where Iteung is getting out of jail and the two intend to raise their little girl together. His choice to leave the past’s causes unexplained sits beside that forward-looking commitment: rather than make the unresolved history the condition of his next step, he turns toward his family. The saying therefore marks a limit he sets on inquiry, not because the past has become clear, but because he has decided that he does not need every answer in order to go home.