When we tackle Book 5 this Tuesday, we'll put Tomas and his existential code back in the spotlight, but also complicate his code with the binaries we pursued in Books 1-4. To refresh the memories of those who attended class on Thursday (and implant a fresh memory in the mind of those who missed out), we focused on publicity/privacy and truth/lies on the intimate level of the individual and the broader plane of political or world-historical experience. We homed in on how each character contextualizes or "solipsizes" these questions: for Tereza, through her mother, photography, plumbing and a general obsession with surveillance and exposure; for Sabina, painting and love-making or romantic affairs; and for Franz, the hypocritical "glass house" he longs to live in, after Andre Breton.
Please ask your own question about the two worlds of public and private, and about "living in a lie," whether you take your inspiration from Milan Kundera's novel or Vaclav Havel's essay, "The Power of the Powerless." Here's a link to the essay you MUST read!
http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/165havel.html
Please ask your own question about the two worlds of public and private, and about "living in a lie," whether you take your inspiration from Milan Kundera's novel or Vaclav Havel's essay, "The Power of the Powerless." Here's a link to the essay you MUST read!
http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/165havel.html
Tomas is seen going through many different things, from giving up his job as a surgeon, leaving his son, to re-evaluating his love life and relationship with Tereza. Has Tomas become more light or heavy?
ReplyDeleteIn Book 5, Tereza shares a dream with Tomas where she is deep in a grave waiting for him to visit her. Her dream distresses Tomas and overtakes him with grief. What exactly does he feel guilty for? Is Tereza’s dream yet another example of the separation between Tomas’ private and public lives? Also, on an unrelated note, do Tereza’s empty eye sockets correlate with Tomas’ article and Oedipus’ gouged eyes?
ReplyDeleteAt the moment in which Tomas is presented by his son and the editor he described to the police with a petition to sign he thinks not of putting himself in harm's way but of Tereza. He declines out of love for Tereza and at the moment he notes that he might not be doing the right thing but " he was sure he was doing what he wanted to do" (220). How does this choice reflect on the weight in Tomas' life and what Tereza means to him? What does it mean that Tomas seems to forget this reasoning later on and regrets being with Tereza? What can this say about the complications of actions in a time of emergency?
ReplyDeleteIt is mentioned in Book 5 that Tomas has slept with around two hundred different women. After this is mentioned, Tomas brings up the uniqueness of an individual, or as he states, "the I." Why is Tomas so obsessed with the I, and what exactly is he trying to understand by sleeping with so many woman and figuring out their uniqueness? Furthermore, what does this say about Tomas' lightness or heaviness?
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 14 when Tomas is about to sign the petition presented to him by his son and the editor he thinks about Tereza, the "one and only thing he cared about" whom he must protect. As a result of these thoughts he decides against signing the petition, once again removing the possibility of a relationship with his son. However, in the next chapter Tomas says that he could not remember the reason behind his decision and in chapter 18 went further to say that he was furious with Tereza and that her presence "felt more unbearably fortuitous than ever" (226). Why does Tomas' feelings towards Tereza fluctuate so frequently? Despite his infidelity and fluctuating anger towards Tereza, why does Tomas keep going back to her? Why is it so easy for Tomas to remove his son from his life?
ReplyDeleteTomas loses his job at the hospital because he refuses to sign a form contracting a statement he had written in a newspaper article bashing on Czech Communism. He also loses out on a job at a clinic for the same reason. His views on Czech Communism ultimately force him to give up something he loves, surgery, in order to start a new life as a window washer. Does Tomas seem more of a lighter character now that he gave up what he truly loves doing in order to stand by his statement in the news article? Does the fact that he continues to sleep around with hundreds of women make him a heavy character? Does he trade his love of being a surgeon for being a womanizer? Are the two different or is there some overlap?
ReplyDeleteTomas is left with no choice but to resign from the clinic because the secret police are trying to get him to sign a letter retracting his previous statement. The issue of privacy comes in when this man from the Ministry knows all about Tomas and tries to get Tomas to sign a paper written by the secret police. Why does Tomas choose to resign from his position and become a window washer rather than stand up to the police and tell them that he will not sign the paper? Does written work go under as someone's private property or is it for the public? When a paper is published, does it lose all privacy and become property of the public? And does this include the privacy of the writer and his life?
ReplyDeleteIt is revealed that Tomas' paper is about how the communist take over relates to the myth of Oedipus. In what ways does this reveal information about the two worlds of public and private? Is the communist take over similar to Sabina's rational that it's not considered living a lie unless the public knows about it or more similar to Franz's idea that living a lie occurs when you are covering the truth?
ReplyDeleteTomas has always exemplified lightness. He has had hundreds of sexual partners and in this book he becomes a window washer instead of his previous career as a surgeon. His lightness has been evident throughout the entirety of this story so far, but here he finally gains some weight by way of his relationship with Tereza. He realizes that he values her happiness even over his, which is some pretty weighty love. How will this change his relationship with Tereza? How will both his public and private life be affected by this realization?
ReplyDeleteQuestion from Rebecca Sai: In this portion of the book, Tomas seems to be having a struggle between lightness and heaviness. He quits his job, roams the streets, and lives a light filled life. But still always fall back on Tereza-his heaviness. He even says on page 239 that he "feels her pain in his own heart." Does this statement prove that Tomas truly want weight in his life because of his never ending love and "compassion" for Tereza?
ReplyDeleteWe see that Tomas is constantly encouraged to revoke his statement in writing because he is seen by the public in a bad way. He however, does not care for their opinion, and is proud of his private thoughts. The police and the hospital want him to publicly right his wrongs, but he won't "live a lie." Is his private thought made public a light trait? How so?
ReplyDeleteif "individuals confirm the system, fulfill the system, make the system, are the system," {10}, as Havel writes, individuals appear to wield considerable power. Yet, why does Havel feel individuals "must live within a lie?"
ReplyDeleteTomas's refusal to sign the document with Russian secret police seems like an act of gallantry, of standing firmly for his principle, of not betraying his beliefs for personal safety, and most importantly, of being true to both himself and to the public. However, his publication was modified thus inaccurately conveys what he really meant to say, so he could easily sign the retract agreement without the guilt of betraying his principle. What is then his motive behind the refusal? Does refusing to retract privately make him a man who lives in truth in a glass jar? How does his choosing of bearing such weight compare to his usually light character?
ReplyDeleteTomas writes a paper about how the communists relate in many ways to the story of Oedipus. However, while Oedipus later punishes himself for his wrong doings, the communists try to cover theirs up. Tomas points out that the communists are living a lie. In what ways is Tomas living a lie? Are the multiple women he continues to sleep with just a attempted cover-up for his love for Tereza?
ReplyDeleteThough he is consistently traced by Russian officials, Tomas never truly seems to be afraid for his safety. When he decides to become a window washer, he doesn't seem to make this decision out of fear, rather that he can just keep living the same kind of lifestyle he always has. The only time he is afraid is when he decides to protect Tereza by not signing the petition, and even then he forgets a few days later why he decided not to sign it. Is Tomas deciding to live in truth when he refuses to retract his Oedipus essay? Is he living in a lie when he refuses to sign the petition? Or is the cause of the Czech people something that he is even interested in other than for himself and Tereza?
ReplyDeleteAs a character to exemplified what it meant to be "light", how did Tomas change towards a more heavy person before his demise, and how does this coincide with his relationship with Tereza?
ReplyDeleteBook Five details Tomas's gradual descent from lightness to heaviness as he hides (but increasingly fails) his private life from the public eye. Does his attempts to hide himself bring heaviness? Does this ultimatly make him similar to Tereza?
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 5, we continue to understand the idea that Tomas is a "public" person, contrasted to Tereza's more "private" personality. Tomas' affair with the woman he described as a "giraffe" proves interesting to Tomas, as she isn't like any of the other hundred women he has slept with. Why is she in particular different than Tomas' other women?
ReplyDeleteTomas dreams of a young woman who he believes to be the love of his life. "The trouble is, man does not find the other part of himself. Instead, he is sent a Tereza in a bulrush basket." (239) He decides to love and care for Tereza out of compassion, his attraction to heaviness. Does Tomas really love Tereza or is he "living a lie?"
ReplyDeleteIn book five, it is described that Tomas has slept with over 200 women and that his primary reason for doing so is for physical pleasure. However, after meeting the women he describes as "giraffe", Tomas realizes that Tereza is who he truly desires. Is this suggesting that Tomas has finally grown to accept heaviness and values his experiences with Tereza?
ReplyDeleteIn book 5, the use of "eyes" as a tool to expose a large portion of the existential code becomes very prominent. Not only are the eyes related to his professional practice of him saving the body as a doctor, but also to publicly put the eyes out in relation to the communist party. How does the use of eyes in this novel relate to the eyes in the bell jar?
ReplyDeleteThe greengrocer posts things on his window (public) for no reason other than that he has to. How does this type of government affect our character's actions and how does it reflect on what they declare as private and public in their lives? Do other characters ignore their "slogans" much like the greengrocers?
ReplyDelete