_The Unbearable Lightness of Being_Day Four: Back to Soul and Body
Tereza's existential heading, "Body and Soul," returns with all its vertiginousness (a verifiable word) and weight. Please post your question on Book 4 here.
How do we see Tereza's mentality of the soul and body when she is having sex with the engineer? How does her actually watching the sexual intercourse occur help the reader understand her perspective?
How does Tereza's refusal to die tell us about her lightness and weight? How does her betrayal to Tomas's commands contribute to her sense of weight and what effect does it have on her?
In Part 4 Tereza pulls a crow out of its grave and takes it home with her. What is the significance of her digging it out of its grave? How does this relate to the body or the soul?
How should we interpret the significance of the woman appearing in Part 4 Chapter 5 in light of the theme, Soul and Body? Is the narrator just re-emphasizing his points made in Part 2 here?
What can we say about Tereza having an affair for the first time, breaking the "fidelity" that solely defines her? What is her purpose? Can it be seen as her desire to be light?
In the story about Stalin's son hurling himself at the electric fence because of the friction between God and shit an exploration of the "possibility of existence"?
"...questions with no answers that set the limits of human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human. (139)" Is it the act of trying to answer questions about the essence of situations "setting the limits of human possibilites"? If admitting that certain questions can't be answered does human existence become limited? Existence according to Kundera is "being in the world".
I took an interest on the description of women's body when Tereza went to the sauna, and the idea that the body needs to measure up to the soul (in her point of view) what is the purpose of relating body to soul by the size? does it really change a person or make them better they have a certain type of body to match a soul, it seems that Tereza thinks so. Does her perception add to her burden and her perception of herself?
In this part, it seems Kundera uses Tomas's name more as a motif for Tereza than an actual character. What might this say about the couple? What does this motif represent?
In what ways are soul and body complicated in this book? And how cold we apply Parmenides positive and negative poles (although more appropriate for Tomas' worldview) to these driving forces of Tereza's existential code?
"People usually escape from their troubles into the future; they draw an imaginary line across the path of time, a line beyond which their current troubles will cease to exist. But Tereza saw no such line in her future" (165).
What is stopping Tereza from looking into her future? Didn't she envision "An image of life in the country arose before her eyes..." (168)? Even as she tries to look at the past, it is changed and no the same. Where is she to go to hide from her troubles if she can't go to her future or past?
Tereza spits at engineers face while they have sex. What can this scene tell us? Does she becomes lighter as Tomas is? Does she sees the body the same way she did before? How can we compare screaming and spiting in sex scenes?
How is Karenin's perspective and presence in the novel important to Tereza's person, body, and soul?
ReplyDeleteHow do we see Tereza's mentality of the soul and body when she is having sex with the engineer? How does her actually watching the sexual intercourse occur help the reader understand her perspective?
ReplyDeleteHow does Tereza's refusal to die tell us about her lightness and weight? How does her betrayal to Tomas's commands contribute to her sense of weight and what effect does it have on her?
ReplyDeleteIn Part 4 Tereza pulls a crow out of its grave and takes it home with her. What is the significance of her digging it out of its grave? How does this relate to the body or the soul?
ReplyDeleteHow should we interpret the significance of the woman appearing in Part 4 Chapter 5 in light of the theme, Soul and Body? Is the narrator just re-emphasizing his points made in Part 2 here?
ReplyDeleteWhat does Tereza's request to be spared reveal about her own thoughts about her body and soul?
ReplyDeleteWhat can we say about Tereza having an affair for the first time, breaking the "fidelity" that solely defines her? What is her purpose? Can it be seen as her desire to be light?
ReplyDeleteIn part four, Kundera blurs the line between Tereza's reality and her fantasies/delusions. Why does he do so? And why does he only begin to do so now?
ReplyDeleteHow do Tereza's fears of her body comment on the actual weight of body? How do her attempts to escape the fears of body create more weight?
ReplyDeleteIn the story about Stalin's son hurling himself at the electric fence because of the friction between God and shit an exploration of the "possibility of existence"?
ReplyDelete"...questions with no answers that set the limits of human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human. (139)" Is it the act of trying to answer questions about the essence of situations "setting the limits of human possibilites"? If admitting that certain questions can't be answered does human existence become limited? Existence according to Kundera is "being in the world".
I took an interest on the description of women's body when Tereza went to the sauna, and the idea that the body needs to measure up to the soul (in her point of view) what is the purpose of relating body to soul by the size? does it really change a person or make them better they have a certain type of body to match a soul, it seems that Tereza thinks so. Does her perception add to her burden and her perception of herself?
ReplyDeleteCompare lightness and weight in this chapter with lightness and weight in chapter 1 how do they differ
ReplyDeleteIn this part, it seems Kundera uses Tomas's name more as a motif for Tereza than an actual character. What might this say about the couple? What does this motif represent?
ReplyDeleteIn what ways are soul and body complicated in this book? And how cold we apply Parmenides positive and negative poles (although more appropriate for Tomas' worldview) to these driving forces of Tereza's existential code?
ReplyDelete"People usually escape from their troubles into the future; they draw an imaginary line across the path of time, a line beyond which their current troubles will cease to exist. But Tereza saw no such line in her future" (165).
ReplyDeleteWhat is stopping Tereza from looking into her future? Didn't she envision "An image of life in the country arose before her eyes..." (168)? Even as she tries to look at the past, it is changed and no the same. Where is she to go to hide from her troubles if she can't go to her future or past?
Tereza spits at engineers face while they have sex. What can this scene tell us? Does she becomes lighter as Tomas is? Does she sees the body the same way she did before? How can we compare screaming and spiting in sex scenes?
ReplyDelete