Terrorism and Revolution: Kyo
(Continued)
Kyo advocates the ideals of the revolution. Ferral asks “ ‘And how many revolutionaries who can do something besides talk?’ ” (82). Trotsky argues that one’s fear is disempowering and disabling, and destroys the integrity of the struggle. Kyo, emotionally reconciled, has elevated his level of commitment with his death: “To die is passivity, but to kill oneself is action” (318).
Edith
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Man’s Fate, Part III (Personal Commentary)
An Exchange: Ch’en and Kyo
(Continued)
Ch’en:
“ ‘I’m not the sort to feel remorse. In the business of murder the difficult thing isn’t to kill – the thing is not to go to pieces: to be stronger than…what happens inside one at the moment’ ” (153).
The murder of Chiang Kai-shek remains at the center of debate. Murder and death are analyzed validated, and absolved. “My life is not in the past, it is before me” (Ch’en, 154). Dreams, memories, and guilt are overruled by “certainty” and conviction: the vital elements when deciding, defining, and determining one’s destiny.
Edith
(Continued)
Ch’en:
“ ‘I’m not the sort to feel remorse. In the business of murder the difficult thing isn’t to kill – the thing is not to go to pieces: to be stronger than…what happens inside one at the moment’ ” (153).
The murder of Chiang Kai-shek remains at the center of debate. Murder and death are analyzed validated, and absolved. “My life is not in the past, it is before me” (Ch’en, 154). Dreams, memories, and guilt are overruled by “certainty” and conviction: the vital elements when deciding, defining, and determining one’s destiny.
Edith
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Man’s Fate: In Response to Professor Hanley
Terrorism and Revolution: Kyo
“He was resolved not to hear the insults, to endure everything that could be endured; the important thing was to get out of there, to resume the struggle. Yet he felt a nauseating humiliation that every man feels before someone upon whom he depends, powerless against that shadow with a whip—shorn of himself” (294).
(To be continued)
Edith
“He was resolved not to hear the insults, to endure everything that could be endured; the important thing was to get out of there, to resume the struggle. Yet he felt a nauseating humiliation that every man feels before someone upon whom he depends, powerless against that shadow with a whip—shorn of himself” (294).
(To be continued)
Edith
Man’s Fate, Part VII (Personal Commentary)
The Paradox:
“ ‘A civilization becomes transformed, when its most oppressed element […] suddenly becomes a value, when the oppressed ceases to attempt to escape t[his] humiliation, and seeks his salvation in it, when the worker ceases to attempt to escape this work, and seeks in it his reason for being’ ” (294).
I am still debating how to contextualize or interpret this profound statement, (because it operates on many levels) from one of Old Gisors lectures, attended by Hemmelrich, who has escaped China and is employed as a “mounter in an electric plant.” Influenced and motivated by the professor’s theory, Hemmelrich vows to “return to China as an agitator.”
Oppression seemingly is a double-edge sword: It convicts as well as reveals the constituent qualities of man.
Edith
“ ‘A civilization becomes transformed, when its most oppressed element […] suddenly becomes a value, when the oppressed ceases to attempt to escape t[his] humiliation, and seeks his salvation in it, when the worker ceases to attempt to escape this work, and seeks in it his reason for being’ ” (294).
I am still debating how to contextualize or interpret this profound statement, (because it operates on many levels) from one of Old Gisors lectures, attended by Hemmelrich, who has escaped China and is employed as a “mounter in an electric plant.” Influenced and motivated by the professor’s theory, Hemmelrich vows to “return to China as an agitator.”
Oppression seemingly is a double-edge sword: It convicts as well as reveals the constituent qualities of man.
Edith
Man’s Fate, Part VI (Personal Commentary)
The Unexpected:
“But as long as things are bad I prefer to be fed in prison rather than die of hunger in freedom…” (294).
Malraux persistently interlocks events, contrasting philosophies, and ideologies to catalyze action. Kyo, now imprisoned, has adopted Ch’en’s persona: fortitude, perseverance, and resolve. He is determined to endure the harshness of imprisonment until he escapes or by releasement in order to “resume the struggle.” His fellow prisoner – conditioned to and contented with the cruelties and inequities of life: “You know, one gets used to it.”
Edith
“But as long as things are bad I prefer to be fed in prison rather than die of hunger in freedom…” (294).
Malraux persistently interlocks events, contrasting philosophies, and ideologies to catalyze action. Kyo, now imprisoned, has adopted Ch’en’s persona: fortitude, perseverance, and resolve. He is determined to endure the harshness of imprisonment until he escapes or by releasement in order to “resume the struggle.” His fellow prisoner – conditioned to and contented with the cruelties and inequities of life: “You know, one gets used to it.”
Edith
Man’s Fate, Part V (Personal Commentary)
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
“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
Man’s Fate, Part IV (continued)
Marital Obligation and Terrorism: (Personal Commentary)
As stated previously, marital confinement and constraints restrict Hemmelrich’s involvement in the revolution.
Malraux continues to revolve his dramatis personae around Ch’en, Malraux’s “model” for a terrorist: “Won’t I ever be in his place?” The emotional and psychological framework of his principal characters influence and determine their “means and mode of production.” Hemmelrich remains within the context of a proletariat: loss of independence and individuality, and into a state of subjugation.
Edith
As stated previously, marital confinement and constraints restrict Hemmelrich’s involvement in the revolution.
Malraux continues to revolve his dramatis personae around Ch’en, Malraux’s “model” for a terrorist: “Won’t I ever be in his place?” The emotional and psychological framework of his principal characters influence and determine their “means and mode of production.” Hemmelrich remains within the context of a proletariat: loss of independence and individuality, and into a state of subjugation.
Edith
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