Part 5- Lightness and Weight, 2

Part Five- Lightness and weight, 2

Summary

Tereza’s unexpected visit to Tomas in Prague and the story of Oedipus.
The communists and Tomas’ letter to the weekly.
Tomas and the chief surgeon discuss Tomas ‘retraction’
Reaction to the retraction.
The country clinic and the visit of the man from the Ministry of the Interior.
The second visit from the man from the Ministry of the Interior
Es muss sein- love or profession?
The story behind Beethoven’s ‘Muss es sein? Es muss sein!’ motif and Tomas’ ‘long holiday’.
The reason for Tomas’ pursuit of women.
The two categories for womanisers and the curious women.
Tomas sleeps with the curious women.
Love and un-love and poetic memory.
Tomas’ son, the editor and the petition for political amnesty.
Images of Tereza and the decision not to sign the petition.
The published petition and the destruction of the Czech nation.
Addendum to the preceding chapter- planets, optimism and pessimism.
The physical and mental tiredness of Tomas.
Tereza’s nightmare.
The soaring death rate and the biologists’ funeral.
An encounter with ‘s’.
Tomas and Tereza discuss moving to the country.
The clockwork of the head.
Tomas’ ‘es muss sein’ of his love.

The themes which run throughout this part of the novel influence the characters on a deeper emotional level. Themes of love and sex, optimism and pessimism, lightness and weight are apparent. It is interesting to see how these themes link and contrast one another. The motif of Tereza as the ‘baby in the bulrush basket’ is used heavily during this part of the story and also Oedipus frequently arises, this perhaps most importantly because it is this that opened part five of the novel.

The character of Tomas is becoming almost unbalanced. By this I mean his physical and mental state is beginning to deteriorate. By the end of two years of the ‘long holiday’ it seems he is physically strained, this is particularly highlighted in chapter 17 in an episode in which he does not recognise one of his mistresses. “This episode both amused and horrified him: it proved that he was as tired mentally as physically.”
I am beginning to dislike Tomas’ character as it seems that he cannot make up his mind with Tereza and I think that it is unfair for her to have to be put through so much pain when it could be easily put to an end. If Tomas could just move to the country like Tereza suggested then in my opinion it would be a good situation for both of them. “We’d be alone there… And we’d be getting back to nature. Nature is the same as it always was.” Tomas wouldn’t have to worry so much about the secret police and Tereza could be happy knowing that she was the only women that Tomas wanted. Why can Tomas not just leave the city and his mistresses behind and care for the women he loves?

Also it seems that Tomas’ mental strains are taking affect on his sleep. He is now suffering from strange dreams as well as Tereza. I think that although he feels the need to find these unique women to sleep with, it is making him mentally unstable. One minute he seems to feel deeply for Tereza and the next he is hurting her again.

My favourite quote from this part of the novel comes In the penultimate page of this part and is Tomas talking of the famous myth from “Plato’s Symposium: people were hermaphrodites until God split them in two, and now all the halves wonder the world over seeking one another. Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost.” I think it is both a beautiful and interesting way to describe love.

I think what is interesting about the part of the novel is that although primarily it is set in Prague, within this country we are taken to many houses and offices. This perhaps reflects the mental state of Tomas as he seems emotionally confused.