Deliverance
“He could not banish from his mind the atrocious, weighty, profound joy of liberation. […]. He was no longer impotent. Now, he too could kill. […]. His hands trembling, his teeth chattering, carried away by his terrible liberty” (266-268).
Allow me to continue with Hemmelrich. Malraux introduces another psychological and philosophical turn. Hemmelrich feels liberated after the murder of his wife and son. And relieved from the guilt of Ch’en’s death (for denying him temporary shelter, in fear of jeopardizing his family’s safety) and the lingering image of Ch’en’s dead body on the sidewalk, drenched in blood, after his failed attempt to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek: “Now, he too could kill.”
Character redefined, psychologically renewed, and philosophically unrestrained, Hemmelrich concretely asserts, “that life was not the only mode of contact between human beings.” And that love is better attained and achieved “in vengeance than in life.”
Edith
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