Can Trapped Person Commit A Suicide?

“Yes, all that is clear; but is a trapped person necessarily doomed to suicide.” (pg. 21)

The author, Milan Kundera, explains why Anna Karenina commits suicide. People have disappeared from her life, she is very sad from her being separated from her son, she feels that he is tired of love and that she is trapped.

Although Anna feels trapped she shouldn’t commit suicide. there are many people feel trapped but don’t commit suicide. There is something that you can do about it. You just need to figure out where it is that you need to change. The author shows this when he says “So many people adapt to living in a trap!” I agree with the author that many people do adapt to living in a trap. “I still recall the strange anguish the piece stirred in me: that this placement into a context that was not mine felt like a deportation.” (pg. 45)

Kundera was sent a manuscript by a eminent Slavist. He was put in permanent comparison. He was placed there with Russian dissidents. Kunders put the publication to a stop. He says how he became someone else when he was in their company. He wasn’t himself. His placement in something that he wasn’t made him feel like he was gone. He felt out of place. He felt like he didn’t belong, as if he were an outsider. I think the author uses this to connect with readers. This connects with the readers because if you go somewhere new you feel as if you don’t belong. You struggle to figure out how to fit in. “Above all do not comment on your own work! Just write! What a pity that you let yourself be provoked into writing prefaces to your works, prefaces and even commentaries!” (pg.78)

Kundera is talking about a quote from a reader. A writer named Witold Gombrowicz responds to that quote by saying he will explain himself as much as he can. He says to be a “complete writer” you need to talk about your books and if you don't then you're not a “complete writer.” I agree with Witold Gombrowicz response to the quote. I think it is important to explain yourself as much as you can because if something doesn’t make sense, you need to clarify what your talking about. If you don't clarify and give evidence, the reader might not understand what you are trying to say. Milan shows us this by showing the point of view of another writer. “A gleam of tender irony will never leave her, even as she progresses toward the death that is already so near.” (pg.91)

Towards the end of Emma Bovary’s story she was coming to an end. She was abandoned and bankers turned her away. As the door opened she heard a beggar emit a howl. She flug him a coin which was her whole fortune. Emma was a beyond generous person even with the situation she was in. She was dying and still helped someone any way she could. The author shows this when he describes how Emma tossed her coin in her last moments. She didn’t miss a chance to show her good will. I think Emma is a good person who was coming to an end. “The artist must make posterity believed he never lived.” (pg.95)

Milan Kundera admired a poet named Ivan Blatny when he was ten. One of the collections had the name “Albertinko, ty” which is translated to “Albertine, you.” That female name stuck with him through his adolescent life. He began to learn that the inspiration was a man that Proust Albertine was in love with. A man came between Kundera and Albertine. He began to see Albertine of a man and he couldn’t get that image out of his mind.

I think the author was too attached with Proust Albertine. He displays this when he states, “A male had slipped between me and Albertine, he was scrambling her image, undermining her femininity.” This shows that Kundera was becoming too close to Albertine. I don't think Milan should have became close to Proust because she was just a character from a book. “My friend, the life ahead of me is growing short. The time I could spare your author is used up.” (pg.98)

It begins with Kundera talking to a French writer and telling him to read a book. The writer read it but didn’t understand why he wanted him to read it so badly. In the book Gombrowicz shares all of his work. He shares his work about very one of his books. Kundera tells him that there's a book he need to read but Gombrowicz responds to him with this quote.

I think in this quote he is saying that he is ageing fast and will soon die. He is trying to share all his knowledge that is has about writing so he can help other authors with their work. Kundera will learn more about writing from Gombrowicz stories. “Hell (hell on earth) is not a tragic; what’s hell is horror that has not a trace of the tragic.” (pg. 115) Milan is saying how aesthetic concepts start to change to be questions. One being if history is tragic. Further meaning being if horrible events have actually meaning aside from being connected to people.

I think this quote is saying what's worse than a tragedy is not knowing why the tragedy might have happened. Kundera shows us this when he states, “ But there are some horrors beneath which no archaeological dig would find the slightest vestige of tragedy: massacres for money; or worse, for an illusion; still worse, for an idiocy.” This statement shows us what he means by this quote. These are some reasons for horrible events to occur but people wouldn't be able to figure this out because these don't leave traces. “Torn away from the history of their various arts, there is not much left to works of art.”

(pg. 167)

All novels can relate to one another in some sort of way. It makes the effects of their work more meaningful when you have more examples of what they are trying to say. Novels can make events memorable whether it being good or bad. Novels can connect the present day to history.

Artwork from back then will always be different from artwork from nowadays. Back then laws were different. They didn't have the freedom that we do now. You can see some of these examples in artwork. Art will never be the same. Arts used to be influenced by one anothers. They belong to the same background, the same history. They dealt with the same tragedies. The experienced the same tragedies that made history. Milan Kundera shows us how novelist and their works can relate to society now and history.

“All of the European arts, each its turn, took flight that way, transformed into their own history.” (pg.168)

Although art was beautiful and and embarced tradition, it was not really recognized. A couple forms of art were music and dance. People didn’t pay attention to it. It was only payed attention to in certain events. That all changes because of a church musician. He took the melody of a chant and changed it to a counterpoint voice. From there music took off and became the “History of music.”

I think dance should have been popular and recognized from the start. It such a great way for people to express themselves. It is also very entertaining to watch. I'm glad music became part of history because it is used in many cultures. I think Kundera is also glad music became history. He expresses his excitement in the quote, “That was the great miracle of Europe: not it's art, but its art to become history.”