Mortality--In More Ways Than One

Finishing Wide Sargasso Sea was certainly... a journey. We've experienced emotional rifts, a tumultuous marriage, and what has become an inside look of a character trapped in another book. A prevailing theme that I encountered while reading Rhys' novel was the overlying theme of mortality. Though it's the first thing that springs to mind, I'm not talking about just the physical deaths of certain people, like Antoinette's mother.

Specifically, I'd like to return to a quote that was said by that very person towards the beginning of the novel. When Antoinette inquires about Christophine to her mother, her mother's response reveals something about her outlook on the world.

'I daresay we would've died if she'd turned against us and that would have been a better fate. To die and be forgotten and at peace. Not to know that one is abandoned, lied about, helpless.'

At the time that we read this, it likely appeared incredibly pessimistic, and cast a cloud of negativity over Antoinette's mother from every scene on. However, it's important to note that we see Antoinette emulating some of these same feelings towards life when we see her become involved with Richard. Not overtly--she doesn't necessary say the exact same thing, but it's all in how she's portrayed (through Rochester's eyes) in the second part of the book.

Death doesn't only mean to cease existence and for a body to perish; death can also mean a loss of someone's sense of self and awareness, and especially an awareness of the fact that they might as well be dead. That sounds incredibly morbid, but I definitely saw similar sentiments in Antoinette. Take a small snippet of a conversation between Rochester and Antoinette as a prime example of this fascination with death and this lack of zest for life (on Antoinette's part).

"Always this talk of death. (Is she trying to tell me that is the secret of this place? That there is no other way? She knows. She knows.)

'Why did you make me want to live? Why did you do that to me?' [said Antoinette.]

'Because I wished it. Isn't that enough?'

'Yes, it is enough. But if one day you didn't wish it. What should I do then? Suppose you took this happiness away when I wasn't looking…'"

Antoinette vaguely questions the point of her existence; why would Rochester give her reason for wanting to live when it would probably be better to be dead? It's interesting that here, in this scene, she essentially gives Rochester total agency and power in controlling something as important (or, from her perspective, trivial) as her own life! It's obvious how dangerous this sentiment is, especially since Antoinette is as much of a threat to Rochester's sense of self as the environment and "secret of this place" is. Rochester basically has a direct hand not only in the fate of Antoinette's life, but also in her state of mind, as we can see later in the book.

The climax of the book, Antoinette's jumping from the balcony of the house in England, exemplifies how the original mindset of death being something that is "peace" has morphed into something that must be, if only for Antoinette's sanity. She realized during that final dream sequence that she knows what she must do.

Overall, Wide Sargasso Sea was dark. I had the movie (?) cover version of the book, in which an impassioned Antoinette is suggestively accosted by a similarly impassioned Rochester (at least I assume these were the characters portrayed on the book). In this case, it was a definitely a case of judging a book by its cover--there was almost nothing that was romantic about this book! At least not in the steamy romance drama way that was implied by the glistening wet hair and the passionate expressions on their faces. The book was overridden with subtleties that could have easily been missed, and hidden themes that definitely kept me from surface-level thinking.

Friends or Foes: Dynamics of Friendship

While discussing Wide Sargasso Sea in class recently, an important discussion arose: what do we make of the friendship as illustrated by Tia and Antoinette in the very beginning of the novel. This initially comes across as something insignificant, considering that their friendship takes up all of a few pages in the novel. Though not everyone agrees, I actually do think that the argument and conflict that results between the two girls isn't all "typical" kid behavior--it's illustrative of the tension between the different racial groups in the same social situations.

It definitely could be argued that the argument over the coins could be perceived as typical kid behavior. As Mr. Mitchell noted in class, both perceived themselves to be "right" in the situation: Antoinette did her somersault underwater, despite the poor form and the fact that she was left gasping for breath at the end; Tia acknowledged that some sort of turning occurred underwater, but it was a really bad somersault, if it could be called such. The problems begin to arise not only when Tia grabbed the coins despite Antoinette's obvious disagreement, when Antoinette brings her race into play.

Some things are always true: kids don't always know what the heck they're saying, especially when they're making comments based on a racially-charged community. However, Tia seems to have some understanding of what status and class mean based on race, despite not actually caring about this fact. She likens Antoinette and her family to "beggars," in an effort to say, "hey, yeah, I know you just implied that I should be below you, but here are reasons x, y, and z why you're irrelevant." There's a sense of Tia just saying things that she's picked up from people in her surroundings, but she knows that they're applicable in this situation, and Antoinette responds negatively--this leads me to believe that they both have some understanding of how race relates to who they are and their "status."

The ending scene, where Antoinette and Tia last see each other, is basically the culmination of the tensions between the two. Antoinette actually runs towards Tia, but instead of being met with the acceptance and comfort that she desires, she's faced with the harsh reality of what can and cannot be: the two aren't supposed to get along because of their race. Tia understands this, and she's crying--it would be one thing is Antoinette was only met with hostility and anger, but it's clearly a painful experience for both of them.

Antoinette mentions that looking at Tia is like looking in a mirror: they're both feeling the same hurt and pain, but society tells them that really their friendship shouldn't exist. This sort of situation inclines me to believe that they don't just have a "typical" friendship between each other, at least not past the point that there was conflict.

Is Human Life Meaningless?

Over the course of "The Stranger," there's one thing that Mersault comes to realize (which also reflects an opinion that Camus holds): human life is essentially meaningless. Mersault did grapple with some of these ideas throughout the book, and we can see this in some of the comments that he makes. Think back to when his love interest, Marie, had asked him if they could get married, and if Mersault thought that he loved her. The responses are ambivalent, and he notes that it doesn't really matter either way whether or not they get married, suggesting that there's not really a point to either of things--though he'll get married if that's what she wants.

I wouldn't say that we can extrapolate from this example that Mersault is aligned with the belief that nothing matters at all (including human life), but we do see that these sorts of ideas are manifested in smaller ways. This is only towards the beginning of the novel, and the end is what leads. Mersault to come to the conclusion that human life is meaningless all around. I think the most important scene to illustrate this is the conflict between Mersault and the chaplain. The conversation, steeped with pity for Mersault on the part of the chaplain, starts out only mildly uncomfortable for Mersault. The chaplain insists that Mersault come to god, but Mersault notes that he "has very little time left, and [he] wasn't going to waste it on God." After the chaplain insists that Mersault should have called him "father," and that he was on his side, Mersault snaps, and makes his important realization.

Everyone is going to die at some point. "All alike would be condemned to die one day; his turn, too, would come like the others'. And what different could it make if, after being charged with murder, he were executed because he didn't weep at his mother's funeral, since it all came to the same thing in the end?" (Also, bear with me; I have the British translation of the text!) Mersault is making the point that whether or not he cried at his mother's funeral inevitably means nothing; her end was coming, and why would it make a difference if tears were shed? He could also be saying that the fact that he wasn't outwardly emotional wouldn't have saved him, as he was going to be condemned either way, which ties back into the fact that human life has a meaninglessness to it.

"It was as if that great rush of anger has washed me clean, emptied me of hope, and, gazing up at the dark sky spangled with its signs and stars, for the first time, the first, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe." Right before this quote, Mersault comes to an understanding about why his mother continued to live life despite the end being so near; the universe didn't care about anyone or their existence, so why should people care about what's going to happen after their death? This is why Mersault expresses that he wants to continue to live life.

The Stranger, through a story of a man caught up in murder, really grapples with some interesting points about philosophy and existentialism. This is probably why the chaplain feels so uncomfortable; what's the point of living by the ideals of religion if you're nothing more than a speck to the universe?