Basic links

No individuality through material possessions:

• We: all the houses are the same, wear the same clothes
• If this is a man: wear the same clothes, have all possessions taken (try to get their own)

Nakedness

• The Unbearable... :Sabina's vulnerability when she is naked and Tomas is dressed
• If this...: forced to strip, first to lose clothes
• We: not really seen

Effects of having higher skills

• If this... :chemist skills
• We: the builder of the integral
• The unbearable...:doctor, but loses position

Ideas about sickness

• We: a soul is a sickness
• If this: Ka Be, break from work, but if badly sick - killed

Respect for dictator/leader

• We: know nothing else
• If This - fear of dissobaying

Human bodies only having a mechanical purpose

• We and If this is a man

Walls

• All three texts
• Metaphor of concentration camp and the reality of being in one

First day of 'If this is a man'

Ideas from class

Levi tries to find philosophical ideas from his experiences, Kundera does the reverse, showing philosophical ideas through the use of his characters.

Levi also describes the behaviour of other people in the concentration camp, this adds validity to show how others behaved and common themes. The characters in If this is a man, are all real people who once lived, are given names, given life and a soul. In the other texts, the characters are fictional, so they do the author’s bidding, not what they can due to their free choice in the situation they are in. In Auschwitz, the men lost their souls and individuality, in the text, Levi gives their individuality back by recounting an aspect of their life and their names.

Basic ideas from class taken further

Levi suggests that ‘every stranger is an enemy.’ This is said to be an infection, that it is inherent that a stranger is an enemy, and that it is random and illogical. In We, having a Soul is said to be a type of disease. Theses inherent haspects of human nature, having a soul and regarding strangers as enemys, do not appear logical, nor can they be controlled or in the case of We, removed completely.

Order of events in the text: In If This Is a Man, events are described in order of importance and it it is a memoir. Levi is selecting the events that he recollects to us. He is showing what he wants the reader to see, this emphasizes certain aspects allowing the author to choose the focus. In The Unbearable Lightness of Being, events appear less orderly, fitting under the titles of the 6 parts. Events seen earlier in the text are returned to later to emphasize them.

He had a strong need to tell the story, create understanding for ‘the rest’ and satisfy Levi. He wrote the story within a few months. This is his way of getting over the event. ‘My need to tell the story was so strong in the Camp that I had begun describing my experiences there, on the spot, in that German laboratory... I knew that I would not be able under any circumstances to hold onto those haphazardly scribbled notes because if they were found they... would cost me my life.' A similar even is seen in We, D-503 has a desire to put his feelings into writing. He is also forced to keep his writing hidden as it his feelings go against what is censored by the ruling body. Primo Levi's writing, although not blaming the Germans, shows the negitive form of life in the Monowitz Buna. Zamyatin's character, D-503 becomes different by developing a soul, so he experiences life differently, therefore his writings are 'illegal' due to a fear of other ciphers following his thoughts.

Comparison: If This is a Man is purely non-fiction (a memoir) and phylosophical ideas are drawn from it, The Unbearable Lightness of being explores philosophical ideas through real events, and We explores philosophical events in a fictictious, futuristic, mathematical environment (the abstract mind os looked at mathematically).

SOUL AND BODY 2 (Parts 2-6)

Connections with other texts:

©       Links to We (Zamyatin), the lack of privacy. Recorded conversations. In We these can be listened to by the guardians, in The Unbearable Lightness of Being they are placed on the radio. Inspires fear of saying the wrong thing. Links to If This is a Man (Levi), all privacy is taken.

©       Shame to do with going against the belief of the rulers. Shamed in front of the general population. “I am great” says a cipher in We (Zayatin) and he is shunned, excluded because he thinks in a different way. In The Unbearable Lightness of Being having one’s private conversations shared on the radio in a way in which makes the speaker look bad.

©       Links to If This Is A Man (Levi), shaming others to make oneself look good. Men did this to survive in Auschwitz, in the microcosm of Tereza’s childhood home and in the macrocosm of Prague an individual is sunned to make one, or a group appear better. Tereza’s mum reads Tereza’s diary to make herself look better, the others laugh along inflicting more shame on Tereza. The Secret Police make themself look better by making Prochazka look worse. They show people thought of as superior/idols as showing the poorer daily behaviour done by the general public.  ‘People slander their friends at a drop of a hat, but they were much more shocked by the much-loved Prochazka than by the much-hated secret police. Poor behaviour is expected by the group thought of as being bad (secret police, Nazis in the concentration Monowitz-buna). On the other hand, good behaviour is expected from popular people who are looked up to, so when bad behaviour is seen from them it seems much worse. Undermines the faith that the general public have in them.

©       Benefits of having contacts links to If This is a Man (Levi). Through a line of people, starting from Tomas, Tereza is able to go to the sauna once a week. In the concentration camp, it is helpful to know people such as nurses, people outside the camp when working, people with a higher rank, certain skills/greater strength etc.

Part 2 Soul and Body (Kundera), parts 1-8

 

Links to other texts (part 8 of part 2):

©       ‘youth and beauty mean nothing’ Zamyatin, appreciation for mathematical beauty, not abstract individual beauty.

©       ‘world is nothing but a vast concentration camp of bodies, one like the next, with souls invisible.’ Levi, most of text occurs in a concentration camp, loss of individuality and freedom, nakedness, that everyone looks the same (Zamyatin)

©       ‘long looks and frequent glances in the mirror.’ Zamyatin, D-503 comes to understand what is within himself when he looks in a mirror, ‘sees himself clearly.’ Finds individuality, differences between oneself and others by looking in a mirror. No mirrors in Levi’s book?

©       ‘longing to be a body unlike bodies.’ Zamyatin- in the one state it is the opposite, the want for everything to be the same

©       ‘her soul... lay concealed in the depths of her bowels and was ashamed to show itself.’ Negitive connotations to a soul, unwanted, don’t have, link to Zamyatin

©       ‘Weaving its (Tereza) way through the drunks in the hotel restaurant... Tomas called to her.’Meeting with eventual lover, daily activity, links to Zamyatin.

©       ‘His outsider status raised him above the rest.’ The power of being an outsider, links to Zamyatin, being different, having own ideas different to the majority.

©       ‘Something else raised him above the others as well: he had an open book on the table.’ Books symbolises knowledge, intelligence, links to Zamyatin. Having a possession others don’t have which is simple but makes a big difference links to Levi.

©       ‘Possibility of imaginary escape.’ Links to Zamyatin and Levi, desire to travel beyond

©       ‘She loved to walk down the street with a book under her arm. It had the same significance for her as an elegant cane for the dandy a century ago. It differentiated her from others.’ Link to Zamyatin, difference to the masses.

Coming together of ideas from previous parts in part 2

©       Linking the behaviour of her mother now that the reader is aware of her behaviour and the cause of it to the effect on Tereza and linking it to the idea of a soul. This leads to Tereza looking in the mirror understanding about her body and trying to find differences between her own and that of others.

©       Tomas returns, was in part 1 of part 2, then was not involved in the explanations, now ties together Tereza’s feelings and reasons for how she acts and feels giving a much greater understanding to the situation.

©       Brackets still used showing the intrusive author as he explains how Tereza is seen to other people as she carries her book and her feelings on doing so. Breaking up the text this way reminds the reader that Tereza is a character, not a real person, but it draws similarities to the behaviour of a real person. Because this is written in the third person, ideas from every perspective can be given, these ideas thought of by the author which do not fit into the general context are explained by Kundera being an intrusive author.

Comparison between Nora with Krogstad (pg 72-180) and Nora at the begining of Act 2

With Krogstad at end of Act 1	Beginning of Act 2
Confident, feels that she has done nothing wrong (at first).	Afraid, things she has been a bad influence on her children, will make them into bad people.
Becomes afraid of Krogstad.	Realises that she needs to take matters into her own hands.
Full of life, happy that her family is well.	“You’ll catch your death of cold,” says the Nurse and Nora replies, “there are worse things than that,” she feels that worse can happen to her staying alive, than dying.
Nora is ‘acting like a man,’ doing business, having to stand up for herself.	Steps down into mother/wife role.
Thinks that what Krogstad said is “nonsense... nonsense, there’s nothing in it!” Trying to make herself feel better and that she has done nothing wrong.	After talking to Helmer is subdued, and believes in the negative possible results.
Is innocent in the ways of business, doesn’t understand the politics involved. Doesn’t understand what the law is based on. “What nonsense! Trying to frighten me like that! I’m not as silly as all that. [She starts to busy herself by tidying the children’s clothes.] But... No, it isn’t possible... I did it for love!	Understands more about it. Realisation just after Krogstad leaves that what she did in the eyes of the law was illegal, but brushes it off as she had what she thought was a legitimate reason. In Act 2, realises that what she did was wrong, and the law won’t accept her motives for doing what she did
Thinks that Krogstad is a bad man.	Realises that she is not so different.

Her state is also shown through the Christmas tree as they celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve and therefore at the beginning of act two it is stripped and dishevelled. Nora has lost her secret power as she is found out to have broken a law and has lost her courage as a result. She is quiet, and does what is asked without question- is afraid of being found out as she now knows the possible consequences and know’s her husband’s opinions such things.

When Krogstad first arrives, Nora appears confident, full of life and believes herself to be innocent. Krogstad reveals that he knows that she forged her husband’s signature and becomes afraid. Later talking to Torvald, she follows his beliefs, believing herself to be harming her children whenever she is around them. It is interesting that she believes her husband in this, as Nora is often shown to make her own decisions based on her own judgement (such as whether she should eat macaroons or not). As she becomes afraid of what Krogstad could do to her, she starts to realise that she needs to take matters into her own hands if she does not want her husband to think ill of her. At the beginning of Act 2, the nurse says, “You’ll catch your death of cold,” but after talking with both Krogstad and her husband, she believes that she could easily end up in a situation where “there are worse things than that.” Staying alive, according to Torvald, she can make her children into bad people, and she is afraid of what Torvald would do if he found out that she borrowed money.

When talking with Krogstad she is ‘acting like a man,’ doing business, standing up for herself. She is forced to consider what is being done to her, and knows that her decisions have the potential to greatly affect her life. At the beginning of act 2, she steps back into a mother and wife role, caring about her children, and doing the activities of a wife, not a business person. When she is talking with Krogstad she decides that what he was saying was “nonsense... nonsense, there’s nothing in it!” Trying to make herself feel better and that she has done nothing wrong. As a women at the time, she does not understand the complexities of doing business and the harshness of the laws and the inequalies that she faces as a married women within the law. Nora is innocent in the ways of business, does not understand the politics involved and does not understand how laws work. “What nonsense! Trying to frighten me like that! I’m not as silly as all that. [She starts to busy herself by tidying the children’s clothes.] But... No, it isn’t possible... I did it for love!” She initially dismisses that she could be in trouble, and attempts to distract herself  which is shown through stage directions as she settles into her mothery role, but Krogstad has made her question herself. She decides that what she did was fine as she did it for love. Later she talks with Helmer and understands more about this, and the effect that breaking a law, even for innocent loving motives, is dispised by him and ruins one’s social standing. As a result, at the beginning of act 2, she is subdued and now believes in the negative possible results as she is forced to accept that the laws will not let her off due to her motives for doing what she did.

Nora also realises that Krogstad is not so different to her, he to broke a law in order to help his loved ones, and his social predicament shows Nora what could happen to her if she is unable to appease Krogstad. Previously she had thought of him as an evil man, but now she realises that she is ‘no better or worse’ than him.

Mrs Linde-Foil character

In what ways is Mrs Linde developed as a foil character* and for what reasons?

*A foil character is a person who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight various features of the main character’s personality: to throw the character of the protagonist into sharper focus.

	Mrs Linde	Nora
Marriage	Husband dead, married him to support her family, not for love	Loving husband
Freedom	Freedom but no money	No freedom in society, has money
Money	Not in debt, not a kroner	In debt, husband has a steady income
Life experiences	Knowledge of the world, realistic. Calm, subtle, honest, outright. Self disciplined, independent. Now has nothing to live for.	A dreamer, little knowledge of how society outside the home works. Self-centred, childish. No self discipline (macaroons). 2 personalities. Depends on Thorvold.
Maturity	Grown up, more masculine role	‘only a baby’ feminine. Frivolous.

Page 157-158

·         Mrs Linde’s dialogue reveals much about her perspective on life and the views of herself

·         Comment on stage directions

o   [Gets up restlessly] always has energy, takes her mind off what she has said, and says after. What she does matches the theme of what she says; she is a restless soul, but has “no one to live for any more.”

·         Nora cuts in to Mrs Linde’s speech, shows the contrast between their characters (foil character). Nora is not fully aware of Mrs Linde’s situation (broke). Nora wants a life of ease (she is much more passive), Mrs Linde is more restless, wants to work. Nora is ignorant to the reality of having to work if you have no money.

·         [walking to the window] breaking eye contact with Nora, she feels anxiety. She would rather be ‘out there’ doing something than sitting chatting. She has a power which Nora doesn’t have, despite having many sources of sadness.

·         Nora rises, Mrs Linde returns. Understands Mrs Linde’s intentions for going to Nora, gone to see Helmer not Nora really for work.

·         Mrs Linde shows how harsh the world beyond is. She is an exemplar character for Nora (at the end).

Mrs Kristina Linde

Page 153-163

• Appears in travelling clothes
• She is 'subduedand hesitant'- she hasn't seen/spoken to Nora in years and has turned up without warning at her door. Shows that they have a past relationship which was strong, but is no more.
• She has changed in the years "nine years-nearly ten" that Nora has not seen her.
• She has travelled by herself in winter, which Nora discribes as "brave," at this time few women would have travelled alone, especially during mid winter when the weather is worst.
• Kristina knows that she is older, says it outright.
• She is understanding, still came to Nora even though they had not communicated at all over the last 9-10 years. Nora hadn't written Mrs Linde a message when she found out that she had become a widower, yet it appears that Nora is the first person that Mrs Linde turned to now in her time of troubles.
• He left her nothing, no money, no children, no regrets
• Mrs Linde puts herself last, she doesn't want to dwell in her own sorrow whilst at the Helmer's home, she asks about how Nora is, and listens actively, asking the odd question or stating the odd fact amidst Nora's chatter about how well her life is at the time. She is pleasent and takes the minor role in the first part of the conversation.
• Mrs Linde did not love her husband, she felt that she was unable to refuse his offer for the sake of her family. In the past, marriages were less based on love, and social status was important-more like arranged marriages.
• She has no reason to live for now, she married to help her mother and brothers (and is proud of herself for helping them), but now her mother is dead therefore nolonger neading support, and her brothers are working supporting herself so she no longer has the drive to work to help them as they are fine without her, she feels "unspeakably empty," which is why she left the area that she was in, in an atempt to regain her purpose in life.
• She needs another job, and on the ouside looks overworked nd needing of a holiday, but she has not money to pay for one. She thinks Nora's husband might be able to help her get a better paying job. Kristina also thinks that Nora's had it easy, as Nora has already given an explanation of what she has been doing for the last number of years, which appears that she does nothing particularly worthwhile.
• She knows that a wife can not borrow money without her husband's consent. She believes the heirachy of husbands over wifes, saying that "I think it's rash to do anything without his knowing." She is shocked that Nora has gone behind her husbands (and in a way fathers also) back.
• Feels pity on Nora for having to save up all the money
• She knows Krogstad from the past.