Unbearable Lightness of Being
Introduction
Milan Kundera's novel "Unbearable Lightness of Being" is a novel that paints a protagonist with a complicated life. The author, throughout the whole novel attempts to analyze philosophical questions that the author feels relate to the existence of her protagonist, Tomas, during his 1968 spring period in Prague. This period is particularly important and the focus of the novel because it was the period that followed Tomas being left behind in Switzerland without Tereza. Milan felt that the period would be perfect because after Tereza’s departure, Tomas feels that the moral restrictions as well as sense of responsibility that had been placed on him had been removed. For the first time, Tomas feels a sense of freedom and unbearable lightness of being. What follows is that he gives up the guaranteed job and the immigrant opportunity in Switzerland heading back to his homeland, Prague, where Russian tanks and kitsch were everywhere. It is due to these choices and he ones made latter as well as in this setting that “Unbearable Lightness of Being" is written. The choices that the protagonist makes ultimately lead to pressures that arise from both the political and social environment making him make one after the other crucial decisions in his life.
In his article "Music Education as Liberatory Practice: Exploring the Ideas of Milan Kundera", Randall Everett Allsup, a music professor from Columbia University, criticized Tomas of him being too light in his life. Allsup not only unfairly criticizes Tomas' actions but also his lack of actions. Allsup fails to consider the big picture of the political and social environments in which Tomas is living that causes him to make the choices he makes. The decisions that Tomas makes are meant to enable him survive that environment at that particular time.
Allsup feels that Tomas is a coward and thus a bad example to society. In page 4 of his article, he states that "if Tomas were a symbol of a certain world-view, can we link his acquiescence, his withdrawal to, say, the everyday feelings of cynicism or laissez-faire attitudes around us?” in fact, he believes that his move to Switzerland in the first place was to look for shelter and an easy life. I am of the opinion that this move was to showcase his bravery. The choice he makes is in order to safeguard his autonomy and exercise his human right of freedom. Tomas is an explorer; he finds his existence through exploring and challenging the power of god and finds excitements through secrets. In Switzerland, he could at least save himself, practice medicine freely, and once again find his passions in life. Kundera state in the book that "a person who longs to leave the place where he lives is an unhappy person." This indicates that Tomas was not happy in Prague at first. This unhappiness was brought about by the fact that he felt that his country deprived his profession the freedom of speech which translated to depriving him of this freedom. This unhappiness forces him to leave his country which may be concluded as going into exile rather than escaping. The novel brings out Tomas’s love and loyalty to his profession through an anecdote that he has with a former patient of his. Through the anecdote we are able to glimpse Tomas as a very warmhearted and conscientious surgeon with a huge passion for his job. The novel depicts him as a caring, hardworking and passionate surgeon. His love for the profession ensures that when he is not allowed by the government to give prescriptions but rather can only offer suggestions, he is frustrated enough to leave the country.
Biasness can be seen as that Allsup displays when referring to Toma’s music in his article (page 4). Allsup worships Beethoven's "Es muss sein" in his music, meanwhile, he prejudices Tomas' "Es muss sein" as being too passive and too light. Allsup, in the article, admires "Beethoven's compositional choices which he believes illustrate a dialectical relationship between the protean and the fixed--between transcendence and what existentialists call 'facticity'. In essence, his Quartet achieves the kind of balance that Kundera's protagonist Tomas does not…" (page 4). Undoubted, Beethoven perfectly masters his music between light and weight, and subtly negotiates with the challenges in his life. Allsup neglects the fact that there are no balanced choices between lightness and weight in front of Tomas; both of those are heavy. Most of the choices placed before Tomas were not choices he could juggle but rather had to face in order to move on to the next challenge. In this case, the choices brought before Tomas do not have any sense of lightness but are rather hard for him. For example, his love for Teresa demands that he goes back to Prague to get her; however, he fled the country due to political turmoil in the first place. Life does not even give him a chance to negotiate between lighter and heavier options, not even to speak of an optimal decision. No matter what Tomas' final decision is, he is going to lose either important half of his life. In the book, when Tomas helplessly mourns out the words "Es muss sein" Allsup expects him to make a quick decision. This is as if Allsup assumes that if Tomas was to utter the phrase a number of times more, then the solution to his problem would come as quickly. The mourning of Beethoven’s song in fact outlines the helplessness in which Tomas was in. he is helpless not only to save himself, but also to save his woman as well as his country. Through his mourn, the author, shows us an adult man who is capable of taking care of himself, but who has reached his wits end. He is helpless and whishes his life would be as simple as that of Beethoven. In this case, his problems are not as easy as his having to toss a coin to be able to determine the choices that he had to make. The choices he makes ultimately affect even his carrier. In his home country, he is a renowned surgeon who is proud of his job. However, political turmoil and his will to live a free life makes him decide to go to Switzerland where he can achieve all that. However, there he can no longer practice the profession he likes and has to settle for being a window washer, a job that he did not enjoy.
Regardless of what Allsup’s article says, the author depicts Tomas as a very responsible man. He is a man that takes his social responsibilities very serious and takes steps in ensuring that they are fulfilled. In the article, page 4, Allsup indicates that Sabina and Tomas' pursuit for a "tension-free world" is a frivolous excuse of their irresponsibility. He also points out that they are being "self-deceived” and lying to themselves in order to not take responsibility. The novel however outlines him as a man who will do anything to safeguard the things closest to his heart. He flees his country to protect his professions oath as well as to protect his family, dream, and freedom. Furthermore, once in Switzerland, he does not insist on being a doctor like his profession but takes on the job of being a window washer so that he can take care of the needs of his family. His sense of responsibility to his family forces him to go back to the country he had fled from in the first place.
The author brings out Toma’s character as that of an honest and true man who would bravely stand up for his beliefs. The book depicts Tomas as one of the few sober people among the majority kitsch people in the society who were being loyal their principles of integrity and authenticity. When the police attempts to force Tomas to sign on the paper that "contained words of love for the Soviet Union, vows of fidelity to the Communist Party," Tomas rejects to sign for the words that fabricated his true belief. Furthermore, when his son and the big-chinned former editor tried to persuade Tomas to sign on the rebel proposal, he bravely refuses that particular proposal and stands with his believes. Regardless of the social considerations and the potential harmful examination from others, Tomas bravely chooses to be "authentic" and "genuine," and he holds strong will of being non-kitsch. Allsup fails to examine the social environment in which Tomas was in at the time that forced him into fleeing the country and instead brands him as a coward who fled his country in such of ‘freedom’.
Conclusion
Allsup failed to look at the big picture in his criticism of the character Tomas. He chose not to examine the political and social environment that greatly influenced the choices that Tomas made all the way. By examining these factors and the roles each played in influencing the decisions that that Tomas made in each step of the journey, Allsup would have realized that in the end the choices that Tomas made were actually brave and wise ones. In the end, he was able to not only save himself but to protect the thing most dear to him which was his wife. Thus, Allsup should be able to show a bit of empathy toward Tomas rather than judge him harshly and expecting him to be principled and conscientious. Given the environment of in which the author had based the story; one can help but wonder why Allsup’s expectations were very high and what would have been his reaction if he were to be placed in a similar situation. It should be noted that that had been a communist period since the Prague spring had just been dismantled. This meant that the period was one riddled with a lot of confusion for any person present at that period and it meant that the choices being made were those of survival. Begging the question, why was Allsup too harsh on the character of Tomas and the decisions he made?
Works Cited
Kundera, M., & Heim, M. H. (2008). The unbearable lightness of being. New York: Harper Perennial.
Allsup, R. E. (2001). Music education as liberatory practice: Exploring the ideas of Milan Kundera. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 9(2), 3-10.
