But Life, in its myriad avatars must be a tough customer, to know and judge, let alone imitate with precision. Yet, now and then, you find seemingly unrelated pieces of Art, born out of different circumstances, alluding to the same facet of this sometimes enigmatic, sometimes repugnant Life. And this makes you realise that you dont need a Theory of eternal return ala Nietzshe to learn from life. You just need to have the willingness to observe and learn.
With this somewhat vague premise i would like to knit a thread through three pieces of Art i have seen/read recently, all of which reflect the same skewed image of Life
1) Die Blechtrommel - The Tin Drum - This German masterpiece by Gunter Grass is an account of the world as seen through the eyes of a dwarf, Oscar Matzerath, who decides to stop growing at the age of three because he is disgusted by the hypocrisy of adult world. Set in years preceding and following WW2 , its a scathing dissection not only of the tragedy and insanity of war but also the general decadence and hollowness of modern lives.
2) The Catcher in the Rye - J.D.Salinger - "Its a phoney world"
A book which at the same time appears as an honest account of teenage angst against the "system" and also a delusion with the way this world works. Set in the 40's, this book broke all stereotypes; be it with the use of language by its protagaonist - Holden Caulfied-or the theme. But what to most, might appear, as a delusioned adoloscent, was simply a guy fed up with the moral hypocrisy of the world.
3) The Taxi Driver - directed by Martin Scorsese - "You talkin to me?"
A masterpiece in its own right. Robert De Niro plays the taxi driver Travis Brickle, who, again, fed up with the moral decadence, decides to take things into his hand and rescues a young prostitute from a brothel. Not much of a story at surface. But the portrayal of the angst of a common man and the reality of the world is hard-hitting.
Three seemingly different works of Art dealing with things as different as Holocaust, teenage angst and moral decadence, somehow give an image of Life thats not too different. However different might the circumstances be, but you can see Oscar morph into Holden or Holden growing up to become a Travis with ease. They are all rebels, against the hypocrisy and ideological double standards of our societies. And they are all heroes in their own ways. Not your quintessential supermanesque heroes, but humans who see truth and react to it, not necessarily mitigating things wrong with our society, but atleast reacting.
And this teaches us one more lesson about human nature. That deep down, somewhere, we are all part of that moral decadence. All of us.
Always somewhere behind me, the Black Witch.
Now ahead of me, too, facing me, Black.
Black words, black coat, black money.
But if children sing, they sing no longer:
where's the Witch, black as pitch?
Here's the black, wicked Witch.
Ha! ha! ha!
Now ahead of me, too, facing me, Black.
Black words, black coat, black money.
But if children sing, they sing no longer:
where's the Witch, black as pitch?
Here's the black, wicked Witch.
Ha! ha! ha!
P.S. I am not a fatalist/pessimist. I observe, therefore i write.
