Kundera's intentions as he develops Sabina's character (Chapter 4)

Through the definitions of ‘misunderstood words’ between Sabina and Franz, Kundera is able to introduce his own perceptions of the human condition of ‘being’ through the development of Sabina. Sabina is an important character in the novel, who is used to portray the ‘lightness’ of being, through her attributes and lifestyle. However through the passage, Kundera is able to explore the complexity of the concept of the human condition, through the conflicting ‘weight’, which is present in Sabina’s character.

In the passage following the ‘dictionary of misunderstood words’, Kundera focuses on Sabina’s life outside of Prague.

After her breakaway from Prague and the communist oppression, Sabina still maintains her connection to her home country through the ‘émigré’ meetings which she attends in Zurich. This depicts a ‘weighty’ influence. This depicts a ‘weight’ in her character, through her attempt to retain her ‘past life’ in Czechoslovakie and remember experiences, giving them significance. This is also reflected through Sabina’s betrayal of her country and fellow emigres during the meeting. The ‘long road of betrayals’ which define her life, are essential in depicting the fundamental ‘lightness’ of her character. However the reoccurance of these betrayals creates a motif to Sabina, which she sees as being the freedom of self to define the individual and escape from the conformism and oppression, ‘she would not keep ranks! she refused”.

This creates a paradox, as she discovers that ‘she would have to out an end to her betrayals’.

This creates a paradox, as her ‘betrayals’ are her rebellion agains society the complete rejection of ‘weight’ and ‘heaviness’, giving a lack of meaning in life, although the concept of ending her ‘road of betrayls’ is sorrowful, as her betrayal is recurring and has meaning, creating ‘weight’ and significance. This shows that the human condition is complex, as there is no single term which defines a persons psyche, and that despite ‘lightness’ of character, the idea of motifs in defining individuality in life, and the subjective meaning which they are associated to, showing a connection and importance, in concepts, in creating an indicidual. Also shown by their reoccurance which creates new meanings, introduces the concept of ‘weight’ in all life, emphesized by Nitschers theorem of eternal return.

However through the discussions at the meeting, Sabina realizes that the ‘essence of being Czech vanished into thin air’ due to the conflicting opinions of the emigres regarding their perceptions of their nation and their culture. This is explored by Kundera throught he repetition of the theme of ‘weakness’ and the concept of ‘vertigo’. The ‘only things that held them together were their defeats and the reproaches they addressed to one another’. This shows that the bond which connects all of the emigres outside of their country is the weakness of their contry and their own weaknesses, which forced them to leave. This concept of weakness is reflected by the character of Tereza who desires to be ‘among the weak’ and to be able to help ‘those weaker than herself’. Therefore drawing a parallel between the characters and nation, highlighting the fundamental weakness of human ‘being’.

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The motif of the bowler hat

‘The bowler hat was a motif in the musical composition that was Sabina’s life. It returned again and again, each time with a different meaning, and all the meanings flowed through a riverbed’

·      post –modernism, use of metaphor to understand ideas, comparison is used widely to develop a deeper understanding

·      Kundera uses the metaphor of a ‘musical composition’ to describe the life of the characters in the text, to show the sense of progression and movement in the rhythm, however there is the idea of repetition in the melody. This can be used to show the repetition in the characters lives which adds weight and meaning through their experiences. He explains through the voice of the narrator what Sabina is. Expresses the idea of repetition shown through the constant return to the motif of the bowler hat.

·      During life, we acquire different motifs which gain meaning to us through past experiences. These motifs are used to develop the essence of our ‘being’ by defining our perspectives of different ideas. Kundera uses the motif of the bowler hat and its ‘constant return’ through the novel to show the meaning which it acquires through Sabina’s relationship with other characters. The bowler hat becomes a major motif in defining the charater of Sabina and the different ideas which depict her ‘light character’. However this concept of the continues return of the bowler hat contrasts Sabina’s essentially ‘light’ character, as it adds weight and the concept of return to her ‘meaningless’ ideals. The bowler had adds ‘weight’ both physically and mentally, through its ‘bulky and impractical’ nature, and the concept of eternal return, through which it acquires different meanings which ‘flow[ed] through [the] riverbed’ of her life.

·      These metaphors assist the in exploring thematic concerns as it conveys the wider qualities of being and the repetition in life which occurs through the return of different motifs, which then acquire meaning. During our lives we acquire and associate different meanings to objects which are used to define our own lives, they become part of the ‘musical composition’ of our lives. This is shown through the symbol of the bowler hat, which has 5 different meanings associated with I, however they all relate and help in the creation of Sabina’s unique identity. The metaphor of the ‘riverbed’ and ‘musical compesition’ in depicting Sabina’s life show the flow and progressive nature of life, which also contains a degree of repetiion, much like a song. Kundera uses music to describe the life of many of the character, introducing the wider idea of life as being both ‘light’ and ‘heavy’, both repetitive and continuous. This emphesizes the complex nature of all of the characters which are used to portray Kundera’s own ideas on the fundementals of human existence. 

Linkages between Zamyatin's 'We' and Kundera's 'Unbearable Lightness of Being'

Struggle of the Individual within society:

One of the major comparisons between these texts, written in such diverse periods and contexts, is the idea of the struggle of the individual to define itself in the midst of the collective society.

In ‘We’ this is expressed through the character of D-503 who is awakened to his own individuality, separated from the ‘collective’ ciphers, who make up the society of OneState.’I was walking with them, yet I was sepearated’. This discovery of his inner self causes a conflict in D-503’s mental state, as it opposes the values of the totaliatarian society of OneState, in which the I is defined by the collective. The ‘‘I’ being satanic and the ‘we’ being godly’. This conflict is manipulated by the cipher I-330, who influences D-503’s shift into discovering his inner humanity and realizing his individuality. D-503 discovers his individuality when looking in the mirror in the apartment, he ‘sees himself for the first time’. This idea is reflected in ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’ in which the main character of Tereza tries to ‘see herself through her body’ to try and define herself as an individual.  She uses the mirror to see her soul reflected into through her face, trying to maintain a separation from the rest of the ‘world of immodesty… a vast concentration camp of bodies, one like the next, with soul invisible’. The motif of the mirror is used by Kundera to emphesize her search to define herself and try to protect the weight of her ‘soul’, ‘It was not vanity that drew her to the mirror; it was the amazement at seeing her own ‘I’. 

The idea of the body as a ‘machine’ and the face as ‘nothing but an instrument panel regestring all the body mechanics’ is depicted in both ‘We’ and ‘The Unbearable lightness of being’. This shows the idea of the body being collectively indentical, which creates the conflict between the ‘soul’ and the ‘body’, which is reflected through the struggle of the ‘individual’ against ‘the collective’. This idea is shown through the identical yonnies in ‘We’, and I-330’s different ‘costumes’ to separate her from the other bodies. The character of Tereza depicts this idea through her desire for her soul to be seen through her face. She constantly ‘stand[s] before the mirror’ hoping to ‘see her own ‘I’’ of her soul through her features.

Idea of conflicting character:

Both Kundera and Zamytain to show contrasting ideas in the novels use the idea of conflicting characters. These contrasts in the novel are used to show the different ways of being which the authors express.

In ‘We’, D-503s conflicted personality is used to show the struggle between his inner humanity the mechanic accuracy which is imposed on the ciphers by the state. D-503’s conflicting mental states show the different influences of the mechanized and ‘logical’ life of the state to become a ’humanized machine’ and his essentially human nature. Kundera introduces the idea of contrasting ways of ‘being’ through the characters of Tomas and Tereza and their opposing mindsets. The character of Tomas is used to convey the idea of ‘lightness; in being, which influences his views on life and relationship. Through his depiction of Tomas, Kundera is able to explore the complications and insignificance, which accompanies his existence. This is contrasted with the character of Tereza, who is depicted at the outset as a ‘heavy’ or ‘weighted’ character through her attributes. She is initially depicted through the metaphor of a suitcase, which shows the ‘extremely heavy’ traits of her personality. This emphasizes Tomas’s initial view of her as being a ‘burden; to him, which results in him being confused as to whether he wants her as part of his life. Through the joining of these two characters, Kundera shows the complexity of human nature, as each of the characters isn’t simply ‘light’ or ‘heavy’ but combines to show the mixing of characteristics. Through their relationship, Tereza imposes her ideas of heaviness on Tomas, weighing him down and dragging him away from his initial light mindset. His character becomes confused, as he hasn’t experienced these contrasting ideas, which don’t comply with ‘his principles’. Tomas seems attracted to the contrast in Tereza, which is a new experience, she “Doesn’t remind [him] of anyone in his past life”, which creates a more powerful relationship between them. The confusion of his character and the merging of the lightness and the heavy depict the attraction of opposites between Tereza and Tomas, and are used to convey Kundera’s ideas on human ‘being’, which is essentially neither light nor heavy.

Context/society around them reflects the personal world:

Mirroring of the personal world to the political world

Micro vs. macro

In both of these novels, the context and society in which the characters are set, reflects the important and often turbulent thoughts of the characters, to convey different ideas. In ‘We’ the society of OneState changes with the introduction of the Mephi, which shows the essentially human nature of all the ciphers and the clash, which it has with the desire to become ‘mechanized beings’. The minor characters in the novel show different aspects, which defy the state on an unconscious level, which reflects D-503’s own struggle between his human emotions and the requirements of the state. This idea of conflict is also shown through the ‘OneState Vote’ in which some ciphers defy the state to become their own individuals, this reflects the major influence of I-330 on D-503’s mental state due to her obsession with her, “there was no saving me, I didn’t want to be saved’. The confusion and unrest, which this ‘uncalculated’ defiance causes among the ciphers, emphasizes the confused nature of D-503s mind as he struggles between the two major influences over his life. Kundera uses this technique of the setting to depict ideas in ‘The Unbearable lightness of being’ and to highlight the inner life of the characters through its reflection. The ‘heaviness’ of the ‘tons of Russian tanks’, which invade Czechoslovakia during the Prague Spring of 1968, depict the invasion of Tereza into Tomas’ life and the ‘burden’ of her ‘heavy suitcase’ which contains ‘her whole life’ which she places upon him. The idea of ‘invasion’ shows the coincidences, which occurred to bring both the characters together, and the contrast of their opposing mindsets. Tereza appears to ‘force’ herself into Tomas’s life as his wife, making him denounce his former idea of ‘erotic friendship’. The initial ‘carnival’ of the invasion depicts Tomas’s initial confusion as to her place in his life, as he hasn’t experienced these contrasting ideas of ‘heaviness; which don’t comply with ‘his principles’. Although each of the novels uses different settings to show the various themes and ideas of their novels. They both use the same technique of setting to highlight the major themes of the characters to convey different textual ideas, which allows us to draw a comparison between the two works.

These ideas are only introduced in this chapter, beginning of comparison between the texts. However as the novel progresses they begin to ‘gain weight’ through their repetition and through the depth of Kundera’s exploration of the human condition through his characters.

What themes emerge in the text as Kundera links the private world with the wider public world

Consider connection with ‘We’

Lack of privacy- listening to conversations:

The concept of lack of privacy and invading a person’s private space to defy the individual and create a collective society is used in both ‘We’ and ‘The unbearable lightness of being’. Kundera uses the socio-cultural setting of the novel to highlight and reflect the inner and more personal lives of his characters in an attempt to convey different ideas and perceptions. Kundera uses the setting of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia which reflects Tereza’s lifestyle with her mother, in order to convey the idea of lack of privacy which results in conformation to the collective.

The setting of Czechoslovakia with the secret police recording conversation in houses shows  the invasion of a persons private space in order to inspire a conforming in society. They ‘steal’ the ‘words’ which are then manipulated and used as a weapon on the people with the intention to shame them and undermine the trust that community has. This is reflected in Tereza’s own personal life with her mother, who acts as the soviet police and broadcasts Tereza’s diary to her friends in order to shame her and rid her off her own privacy and individuality by divulging her personal life to her friends. The taking away of privacy and free thought to reveal the individuality of the soul destroys its uniqueness and speciality as it is known by the rest of the community, it becomes common knowledge opposed to the mystery of her inner-self. This is shown on a macro scale by the invasion of Czechoslovakie in which the soviets try to rid the Czech population of their orignonal identity to transform them into a  conformed collective under the regime of the USSR.

Idea of humility and shame which rids an individual of their orignionality due to the rejection from the community to the private and personal ideas of an individual. Renders the inner mentality to collapse and conform to the society and collective in order to be accepted by the community. Shown through Terezas mother’s attempts to humiliate her infront of the public in order to defy her own belief in the ‘soul’ and to solidify the notion of the world as simply a ‘concentration camp of bodies’. This is also shown by Kundera through the capture of Dubcek, and his speech to his ‘humiliated nation’. The concept of humiliation and shame reduces the power of an individual and therefore his own origionalitym conforming him to the collective. The Czech people listening to his speech are described as being ‘humiliated by his humiliation’, emphesizing the idea of loss of power of the people which is inspired by the exchange of power from the Czech government to the soviet police.

This concept is also reflected in ‘We’ with the community of OneState, which maintains complete control over the Ciphers through controlling communication and ways of living. The ciphers live in glass houses which destroys the concept of private life and individuality as it is seen by all of the others in the state. This creates the concept of conformitism and the collective, which is the essential grounds of their society. The lack of the individual’s thoughts and emotions creates a more compact and efficient machine of power, as it destroys the concept of a ‘soul’ and the search for inner desires and diverse opinion, which is an essential part of individual mindsets.

Conentration camp:

The motif of the ‘concentration camp’ is depicted through both ‘If this is a man’ and ‘The unbearable lightness of being’ in order to emphesize the loss of individuality to the conformed  collective. Kundera uses the inner life of Tereza and the reflection of the bugging of Prochazka’s study in order to introduce his own perceptions regarding ‘concentration camp’. Tereza uses the term tto ‘expresshow she felt about life with her family’, which shows that this concept doesn’t purley relate to the ‘brutality and voilence’ which accompanied it in the death camps during the second world war. It also depicts Kundera’s own idea that a concentration camp can be seen on both macro and micro levels, which is emphesized through Tereza’s concept of the concentration camp as being the ‘complete obliteration of privacy’, which is caused by her mother destroying her ‘right of shame’ and who expresses her diary and privacy to the micro-public. In the novel they are robbed of the divine spark of their ‘soul’ which defines their individual nature. This portrayal of a concentration camp, shows that the loss of individuality and privacy to a collective which is identical is the main concept which inspires fear. The fear of being unrecognizable, being stripped of every possession which creates the individual. Primo Levi also discusses this idea in his novel ‘If this is a man’, in which the setting depicts this idea of the concentration camp and the loss of the individual. In the novel he is ‘stripped of every possesion’ which  defines him as different from the others and which allows him to consider himself ‘a man’. This can be seen through the loss of the name, of clothes and even of hair, rendering each man like the next. Loss of identity and privacy discourages hope in the prisoners and allows them to be treated as a lower race by the Germans. This loss of identity and of diverse personality is what creates the depressing and fear inspiring nature of the camps as one ‘loss[es] himself’ through being unable to express his own nature. He is not defined by his own personal self but by the collective and therefore fails to retain personal thought and conduct, creating this loss of self.

Body is not a necessarily a representation of the soul:

This idea of the body not necessarily being a representation of the soul is shown by Terezza’s desire for her body to be a ‘poster for her soul’, which contrasts that of her mother, who sees everyone a being ‘soulless’ and being largely similar. Kundera uses the character of Tereza to portray his own perception on the soul in regard to the body, as she tries to observe her ‘soul’ through her body, which she believes is a representation. However when in the Sauna with the other women, she is introduced to a woman who she describes as being ‘four pouches’, and therefore admits that the soul is not always conveyed through the appearance, otherwise she would have a ‘monstrous soul’. This is also shown through Terezas desire to ‘dismiss her body’, and to ‘stay with Tomas only as a soul’. This shows her jealousy and displeasure at her body in being unable satisfy Tomas fully without the use of his mistresses. Tomas sees every woman physically in the same light with the same physical desires, which causes conflict with Tereza’s ideology as she wishes for him to see her soul through her body, making her body individual and unique. Therefore creating her desire to remain as a ‘’soul’, which shows the individuality of her nature and allows her ignore his infidelities and desires of the flesh, which ‘can be extended to any woman’ as the body becomes simply a transport and ‘cage’ for the soul.

This idea is also depicted in ‘We’ as all of the ciphers are dressed in Yunnies and are forced to shave their heads in order to convey the idea of a complete identical collective. This concept of the collective in which the individual is not identified shows the idea that the soul is not depicted through the body, as all bodies are believed to be equal. However in ‘We’ this concept of equality and similarity is taken to the extreme and used both physically and mentally on the ciphers, resulting in the mechanical aspects of the ciphers, who are controlled to the extreme. This idea of the body not reflecting the soul is also used to create the ‘dehumanized’ nature of the ciphers, who act simply as ‘functions’ who are all simply part of the whole, instead of human beings, separated by their thoughts and lifestyles.

Body as a servant to the soul- body essentially light whereas the soul is the weight

Another idea which is expressed in both texts is the concept of the body being simply a ‘machine’ which is a transport for the ‘soul’. In ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’ the body is depicted as being essentially ‘light’, which is shown through Toma’s numerous erotic friendships and mistresses. Tomas ‘desires’ women sexually however he initially tries to escape all mental connection and ‘compassion’ for women mentally. Kundera also emphesizes this idea by showing the materialistic quality of bodies and their similaritoies, making the world simply a ‘concentratiom camp of bodies’. This is contrasted with the idea of the soul which is described as the ‘anchor of the body’ and which is used in defining the individual. This idea of the body being simply a ‘pannel to display inner emotions’ is also used in ‘We’, where the ciphers are portrayed as ‘humanized machines’. This concept is imposed on them through the totalitarian regime of the OneState society, which strips the ciphers of their individual thought, appearance and lifestyle, making each like the next. This idea of the conformation of the collective and the rejection of the ‘I’, emphesizes the idea of the body being simply a tool as the ciphers are used as ‘functions’ of the state rather than humans. With the apex of their considered humanity as having a mechanic mentality free of all human emotion and reasoning. The importance of the soul in defining the individual is portrayed through the charater of D-503 and the discovery of his inner humanity. D-503 is claimed to have the ‘sickness of a soul’, which is reflected through his actions and thoughts regarding himself and the society around him, and which creates a barrier separating him from the rest of the ciphers, ‘there was a thick curtain separating my life from theirs’. Both texts depict this concept which shows the importance of the soul in creating the individual and reflecting the inner humanity of people which differs within each person. It also conveys the significance of the ‘heaviness’ and impotance of the soul in creating an individual person, which is made up of both mind and body. Whereas the body is simply a ‘machine’, similar to the collective, which is defined by the soul. In both novels, Kundera and Zamyatin depict their perception of the human body through the main characters struggle for individuality against the collective in society.