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.
No comments:
Post a Comment