Terminal Paradox

I checked out a book from the library entitled Terminal Paradox: The Novels of Milan Kundera. I haven't read much of the text, and only part of it is focused on The Joke, but there were two quotes that jumped out at me. They are as follows:

"Critics have called it a realistic novel because of the way it exemplifies the conditions of Czechoslovak society is the first two decades of the Communist regime." - p 11

This is just like The Miracle Game - both are very realistic and seem like the author is telling a non-fiction story in which he is the main character (less so in The Joke than in The Miracle Game).

"One of the paradoxes of this period was that the victims of Communism were often the very devotees who had helped usher it in." - p 12

Which exactly describes Ludvik, which just adds to the realistic nature of the novel.

An Interview with Milan Kundera

Following is a link to a website that has long interview of Milan Kundera by Olga Carlisle in 1985, if you're interested in learning more about the author.

http://www.kundera.de/english/Info-Point/Interview_Carlisle/interview_carlisle.html

Some Passages from The Joke

"Sometimes (more in sport than from real concern) I defended myself against the charge of individualism..." -spoken by Ludvik on page 33
"...I actually came to believe them because I couldn't imagine (I wasn't bold enough to imagine) that everyone else might be wrong, that the Revolution itself, the spirit of the times, might be wrong and I, an individual might be right." - spoken by Ludvik on page 33

Both of these passages relate directly to some of the sections we've read of Havel. The first passage is interesting because what it states is completely contradictory from what Havel is suggesting people do. Ludvik tries to fight the judgment that he is an individual while Havel strives to convince everyone to embrace their individuality. But Ludvik also strengthens Havel's argument: Ludvik is a member of the Party who hates the thought of individualism. Thus he shows that Havel is speaking the truth - being an individual is a way to rebel against the Party.

The second quotation shoes Ludvik's disbelief that he may be able, as Havel would say, to "live in the truth." He cannot (or is too scared to) believe that he is able to live in the truth because that would mean that all that he currently believes (the Party) is false, and is therefore the lie. I think this mindset probably plagued many Party members at one time or another. It is human nature to experience doubt in things that you have previously taken for granted as being true, in this case the Party. But many choose to not act on the doubt, or choose to believe (in the Party) rather than believe in themselves. People are very receptive to the group mentality especially in circumstances where standing alone can come with bad consequences. We naturally want to fit into the majority rather than stand out as the individual, like Ludvik, because it is safer and more certain. Perhaps it is also significant that Ludvik is a young man. Though he is marked as an individual, he is probably more likely to be swayed by his peers and the authority to be shaped by what he has grown up believing - the Party rule.

Reaction to Cultures of Resistance

I think the movie was extremely relevant to our class. it depicted both groups of people living in the lie and groups living in the truth. i think the movie focused most on those people living in the truth and actively resisting whatever was oppressing them, but it also did depict people who were just trying to stay alive and get by however they could.

I think these cultures were so much more openly resisting because the government oppression was much more severe, violent, and out in the open. these cultures also have enough people, groups of people, that their dissent and resistance is supported and also made aware to other parts of the world.

With Communism, it was hard for the people to prove that the government was committing crimes. In the cultures in the movie to crimes are outright and outrageous, spurring groups around the world to support the local cultures.

It all goes back to Havel - it only takes one person to dissent to show that it is just "a game" and others will follow.

Reading for 2.14 The Miracle Game

"Laura, do you think ideology is stronger than the police?" -Danny
"Man is inclined to evil, right? Well, we're convinced it's the other way around. in primitive societies, man had a powerful sense of the collective, of mutual help. in that way he was good. it was class society that turned him into an evil animal. communism will eventually replicate the relationships in those original societies. it will awaken all those old, original virtues in man." - Laura
page 386

I found this passage very interesting because it gives us insight to what Party members truly believe, if we take Laura to be the face of every Party member. It is interesting to me that the people who have the most "power", the Party members/officials, are the ones who are the most brainwashed, which really makes them powerless. They are powerless because all of their power comes from an outside source, it is not their own individual self-pride that gives them power. This also makes me wonder if they are living in the lie, because they truly believe in what they're supporting. this brings us back to the questions of "what is the truth?" If we take it as fact that the truth can vary from individual to individual, then I would argue that Laura, and Party members that truly support the Party, are living in the truth, their truth.

It is also ironic that Laura and Havel essentially want the same thing - human collective. However, Laura is willing to get that through oppression, forcing people to be a collective, while Havel imagines a human collective of individuals living in the truth but supporting one another's self-respect and individuality.

Lies vs. Truths

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. --George Orwell

Living in the Lie

Ideology was originally a critique of capitalism. Is capitalism just as bad as socialism?

If the Czech people were living under the Communist regime and that was "living in the lie" then now they have changed to capitalism and are "living in the truth." But, if they are now unhappy with the current system, capitalism, are they again "living in the lie"?

The Truth

What is the truth? What is living in the truth?

These are broad questions, not easily answered.

I don’t think it’s possible to ever fully live in the truth and live in society. To fully function in society, there will always be some things that you don’t agree with but must go along with. In our society, we are free but only to an extent. While we can have our own ideas, and usually express them without repression from the government, there are laws that prevent us from doing whatever we want, and also pressures from society itself that prevent us from always voicing our opinion. If you do voice your opinion, there will always be dissenters, which is a hindrance to some people. No one likes to be criticized for their ideas, even if they know they are unpopular.

Maybe you can only have true freedom if you disengage from society altogether.  

Class Discussion 2.9

In class on Thursday (2.9) we talked about how people that live in the lie come to realize that they have human dignity, that they have self-respect, are proud of their individuality, and then come to live in the truth. I think there is also another way to look at it. It seems probable to me that many people that are living the lie feel that self-respect is keeping yourself alive. So even though they know they are living in the lie, they continue to live in it to stay alive and have a decent life, and also protect their family from being mistreated by the government.

What I wrote in class about IDEOLOGY--> LIVING IN THE LIE--> LIVING IN THE TRUTH….

     Ideology is the first step to living in a lie. These two steps are so closely related that I think it is impossible to leave living within the lie out of the equation. Ideology supplies the lie within which the people live. It is the façade – the bridge to the regime – that allows people to live the lie. Ideology provides the blanket opinions, tells the citizens the way they should act and think, and allows them to hide behind it so as to not get caught living in the truth – thus it is living in the lie.

     One can realize he/she is living in a lie and feel helpless and do nothing to remove themselves from the lie which just fuels the ideology and the lie. Only once one realizes he/she is living a lie and does something to change it is he/she living in the truth. And when one starts to live in the truth, he/she illuminates the cracks in the façade, they show that it is just “a game” which allows everyone else to see that it is just a game and spurs them to step out of the lie as well.

     When one person starts to live the truth it shows that ideology is a lie, threatening ideology itself. Thus it comes full circle – living in the truth will promote living in the truth and extinguish the lie of ideology.