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.