A C T A U N I V E R S I T A T I S L O D Z I E N S I S
FO LIA LIT TER A RIA 36, 1994
Dorota Filipczak
J U L IE N G R E E N ’S L Ë V IA T H A N AND T H E D E A T H O F T H E O L D S E L F IN T H R O U G H T H E P A N A M A
BY M A L C O L M LO W RY
’’T h e whole is a strange assembly o f app arently inco ngru ous p a rts ” 1. T his statem en t was recorded in Through the Panama as Law rence’s co m m ent on Ulysses, b ut it holds tru e for L ow ry’s text as well. In fact, the a u th o r h ard ly m akes any attem p ts to tran sform his fiction into a classic novel. It seems th a t he tantalizes the re ader by using one o f the trad itio n al genre nam es i.e. the J o u rn a l o f Sigbjorn W ilderness as a subtitle o f his w ork. Basically, the jo u rn a l presupposes a linear and chronological developm ent o f a text. L ow ry’s w ork, how ever, com plies with this dic tate in the fram ew ork only. T h e events arc placed w ithin p artic u la r m om ents o f the beginning and end; geographical chro no lo g y o f the voyage is also rigorously m ain tain ed th ro u g h o u t th e text. Y et, the linear co m position is disrupted by notes in the m argins. T hey ru n alo ng the m ainstrea m o f the w ork, and since their im pact upon the sto ry is considerable, they can not be dismissed as a mere experiment. In fact, they m ake the re ad er acutely aw are o f the presence and role o f “ the w riterly te x t” 2.
T h e term coined by R. B arthes in S /Z is now a well kn ow n nam e for a series o f cultu ral utterances which extend the possibilities o f in terp re tatio n in to infinity. It fosters a polyphony o f voices, n o ne o f them gaining do m inance. C onsequently, no hierarchy o f m eaning emerges from the text which is con stan tly refashioned by the signifying flux3. T he writerly text,
1 M. L o w r y , Through the Panama, [in:] Hear Us О Lord From Heaven Thy Dwelling Place, Penguin M odem Classics, London 1984, p. 31, 98.
2 K . S i l v e r m a n , The Subject o f Semiotics, Oxford University Press, New Y ork 1983, p. 346-250.
which is norm ally hidden behind the deceptive unity an d coherence o f m ean in g in th e w ork, gains a different status in Through the Panama. L o w ry ’s book resem bles an excavation site - the writcrly tex t is exposed to th e public in som e places; in others, it is buried un d er a layer o f th em atic or stylistic allusions to o th er w riters’ works. T he w ritcrly text can be seen in o p eratio n on several levels o f discourse. N otes in the m arg ins arc its overt and m ost provocative m an ifestation . T h eir message tends to re ap p ea r in the m a in text after a greater o r lesser tra n sfo rm a tio n . T h e m argin s are filled with the following: 1) passages quoted in extenso from a literary w o rk i.e. R hym e o f the A ncient M ariner; 2) the a u th o r’s lecture on history o f th e P a n a m a C anal b ra nch in g o ff in to the sym bolic vision o f the canal; 3) sum m ary o f a s h o rt story by H . Sienkiewicz i.e. The Lighthouse Keeper. T riggered by th e geographical hint (Aspinw all), the fragm ent concludes with a digression on th e film Quo Vadis based on the novel by the same a u th o r.
T h e tex tu re o f Through the Panama a b ou nd s in less serious utteran ces e.g. F rère Jacqu es song, new spaper cu ts, fragm ents o f ship reg ulatio ns, English Spanish tran sit form , excerpt o f a tran slatio n exercise etc. A m ix ture o f ’’incongruous p a rts” highlights the collage effect o f the text, each element being g ranted o f the same ran k. T h e variety o f d is pa ra te collage elem ents seems eclipsed by a n um ber o f statem ents m en tio n in g o th er w riters. Som e o f them provid e brief com m ents on a w ork by a given a u th o r (e.g. M elville’s M o b y Dick, K a fk a ’s Trial, P oe’s Fall o f the House o f Usher). O thers only m ention an a u th o r in con ne ction w ith a p a rtic ula r w ork (e.g. J. G re en ’s Leviathan). Still o th ers sou n d like playful invocations o f an a u th o r an d /o r his bo o k (e.g. F itz g e ra ld ’s The L a st TycoonlLaocoon). N otes in the m argins and statem en ts alluding to different artists4 con stitu te textual segments o f sim ilar status. Each segm ent gives rise to a free play o f associations because it is ro o te d in the re ad er’s cu ltura l experience. A ccordingly, layers o f significance from o th er w orks seem to underlie the m essage o f Through the Panama. A m ultilevel text induces various interpretations by exposing facets o f the creative process. Since the writerly text d isdains hierarchy, ” it can be entered a t any p o in t” , any allusion is th u s capab le o f thro w in g light on the whole. T h e text is a. p rocess5 tha t keeps generating interpretations once the read er’s consciousness focuses on a p a rtic u la r link in the signifying chain.
T h e analysis o f the w hole w riterly text is beyond the scope o f this p ape r. T h ere fore, I am going to con ce ntrate on a statem ent th a t fascinates m e, i.e. the m en tio n o f Leviathan, th e sh o rt sto ry by J. G re en 6. It ap p ears
4 The statements do not refer to writers exclusively; Lowry makes comments on Bosch and K ierkegaard, but I am going to focus on the mentions related to fiction - writing.
5 Cf. R. D e t w e i l e r , Story, Sign, and Self, Fortress Press, Scholars Press, United Slates 1978, p. 110, on the role of a critic in completing the text in B arthes’ views.
in the text for no obvious reason, and unlike passages in C oleridge’s poem or com m ents on oth er w orks in the m ain text, it docs no t seem to be developed into any pow erful clue to the m ean ing o f Through the Panama. T he goal o f m y article will be to dem o nstrate th a t Leviathan 7 is present in Through the Panam a as a pow erful cultural utterance. In m y analysis I will focus on the biblical and theological dim ension because it provides b o th w orks with a co herent interpretation. Before I deal w ith the biblical and theological aspect, I w ould like to com m ent on sim ilarities in the subject and am bience o f both texts. T he affinities can be grouped un der the following headings: 1) the m o tif o f crossing the ocean; 2) w aters as a m eans o f causing disquiet; 3) the sense o f being watched*.
Leviathan and Through the P anama tell the story o f crossing the ocean. A board in g o f the ship by the characters opens b oth texts, and the sight o f d istan t lands closes them. T h e w riter’s attention co ncen trates on w hat happens d urin g the voyage, and the passengers are c aug ht in the experience which proves revealing. T he m ain ch a rac te r o f L eviathan becom es the only passenger o f a F rench m erch ant ship called B onne E sp erance and bound for A m erica (S avannah). In Through the P anam a S igbjorn W ilderness and his wife start their voyage on the D id erot in V ancouver, and the book ends with a note ab out their happy arrival in E ngland.
B oth texts revolve around the sea im agery which is charged w ith the pow erful sym bolism. T h e m ain character o f Through the Panam a seems obsessed w ith Joyce’s fear o f the sea: ’’W ho know s w hat lives in it?” F e a r o f the sea is also present in Leviathan. T h e passenger tries to avoid the sight o f waters. H e spends m ost o f his tim e in the cabin which becom es a su rro gate o f hom e. T h e m an rearranges all objects in his own w ay, as if he w anted to im pose som e pa tte rn on his otherw ise enigm atic situ atio n. All these efforts are p ro bab ly m ean t to dom esticate som e hidden m enace o f th e sea. In psychoanalytic register the sea is treated as an equivalent o f subconscious9. A ccordingly, the passenger s attem p t to tam e the sea is the attem pt to co ntrol the subconscious. In T/irough the Panam a there is a sim ilar correspondence between the m ind and sea im agery. Low ry seems to allude to old-fashioned ro m antic register in orde r to show how the m o n o to n y o f the voyage fosters ’’billows o f inexhaustible anguish and insatiable albatro ss o f the s e lf ’10. W henever th e n a rra to r tu rn s to the
7 J. G r e e n , Léviathan ou la Traversée inutile, [in:] Le Voyageur sur la terre, Editions du Seuil, Paris 1989, p. 163-175.
* M . L o w r y , op. cit., p. 73.
9 F o r the sea symbolism see: Ad de V r i e s , Dictionary o f Sym bols and Imagery, N o rth H olland Publishing Company, A m sterdam -London 1974, p. 405-407.
ro m an tic idiom , he seems to conjure up the atm osphere th a t is sim ilar to the m o od o f the n a rra to r in IJviathan.
N othing can excccd the boundless misery and desolation and wretchedness o f a voyage like this".
T hese w ords m ay well be used to com m ent on the plight o f the passenger in G ree n’s sh ort story. By alluding to the stereotype o f voyage viewed as an ordeal, Low ry m akes the reader m ore sensitive to the tone o f anxiety th at is concealed behind the flippancy o f dialogues.
A n o th er po in t where bo th w orks converge is the sense o f being w atched. T h e passenger o f Bonne E sperance rem ains an obscure figure th ro u g h o ut the text. T he captain is the only person w ho knows the m a n ’s nam e and o th er personal d a ta from the docum ents. T he inform ation is, how ever, kept secret from the readers. T he passenger shuns people; his choicc o f the voyage in a m erchant ship stresses the fact th at he wished to reduce the num ber o f possible interlocutors. Ilis extrem e reticence and oddity o f behav io ur m ake him a n object o f public scrutiny. Sailors w ho walk past the m a n ’s cabin ca nn ot resist the tem p tatio n to peer in at his face. C aptain Suger finds him self d raw n into a m ore sophisticated study o f the passenger’s self. H is efforts to fath om the secret are strongly discouraged, w hich incurs his m ou ntin g hospility. In fact, the readers are also forced in to the position o f curious observers. U nlike Suger, they are denied any rem arkable initiation into the m a n ’s past. Since the n a r ra to r o f IJviath a n distances him self from the events, they c an only gain som e in fo rm atio n by scrutinizing the passenger’s face, clothes, room , and the scenery in w hich he is presented.
T he m ain character o f Through the Panama is definitely obsessed with a sense o f being w atched. T ran sit form from the canal zone o f P ana m a functions in th e sam e way as the passenger’s passpo rt in Leviathan. Its content is m ea nt to satisfy institutionalized curiosity. T hu s ’’the true freedom o f every traveler is lost forever in his ow n w orld” 12. Im m ig ratio n officers are seen as agents o f censure and oppressive vigilance. A m orbid sense o f exposure to scrutiny is echoed by the fear o f being taken for a spy. L ack o f coh erent identity m akes L ow ry’s m ain character feel insecure in every place on earth. H e suffers from a sense o f dispossession and alienation. H is sense o f being w atched is m ost pow erfully expressed in the vision o f G od as the suprem e controller, w hose function is analogous to the role o f the m an sitting in the control tow er over the locks o f P a nam a C anal:
[...] th a t m an sitting up in the control tow er [...] who, by the way, is myself, and who w ould feel perfectly com fortable if only he did not know th at there was yet another m an
sitting yet higher above him in his invisible control tower, who also has a model of the canal locks before him [...] who thus is able to see everything th at is happening to me at every m om ent - and worse everything th at is going to happ en13.
T he affinity betw een L eviathan and Through the Panam a can be enhanced by highlighting the role o f biblical m essage im plicit in b o th w orks. J. G re e n ’s sho rt story seems to explore and refashion the m o tif o f J o n a h . T he a u th o r encodes a clue p o intin g to the biblical figure at the beginning o f his text. A s soon as B onne E spcrance has left F rance, a spell o f storm y w eather sets in, and the ship is sw allowed in torre ntial rains. T he ca ptain laughs at the tro ub le an d com m ents on it wistfully:
‘Ce vous qui nous devez cela’14
- he says to the passenger. T he jo ke points back to the trad itio n o f Jo n a h m o tif, w hich was tak en up as early as in D e foe’s Robinson Cru-soe, and is here exhum ed from the collective unconscious in an indirect form . In fact, there are qu ite a few striking parallels betw een J o n a h and the passenger o f B onne E sperance. T he form er wishes to flee from G o d ’s presence, and is consequently banished from life15. T h e latter tries to shun people, and is finally destroy ed by d eath. B oth J o n a h and the passenger choose the ship as a m eans o f carrying o u t their plans. In b o th cases there is great tension betw een the m ain ch aracter and the crew. Biblical J o n a h is w oken from his sound sleep by the cap tain w ho asks him to p ray to his god to end the sto rm 16. In Leviathan the p as -senger is aroused from lethargy by the ca pta in, w ho forces him to a c-cept in vita tion to dinner, and exposes the m an in this way. T h e crew from the Old T estam ent question Jo n ah , w ho confesses his gu ilt17. In G re e n ’s story the cap tain stages a quasi confessional situation by m eans o f an encourag in g rem ark
O n peut to u t me dire, vous savez. Je suis un confesseur modèle1*.
T h e passenger declines the allusion and the tries to fulfil the second p a r t o f the ritual i.e. com m union . H ow ever, he fails to see the sacred dim ension th a t is im plicit in the cerem ony o f sharing the m eal. W hen he tilts the glass to his lips, his hand shakes, and he spills the wine over the w hite tablecloth. H e is deeply shocked to see the effect. T he sym bolic significance o f th e tablec loth m ay be related to the m a n ’s efforts to m ake
13 Ibid., p. 61.
14 J. G r e e n , op. cit., p. 166.
15 L. C. A l l e n , The Books o f Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, London 1986, p. 214. 16 The Book o f Jonah, [in:] Good News Bible, Collins, G lasgow 1979, 1.6.
. 17 Ibid., 1. 8-9.
18 J. G r e e n , op. cit., p. 173.
a new start in life with a perfectly clean record. W hen the red stain disfigures the im m aculate w hiteness, the passenger aw akes to the true perception o f his life. H is secret is now exposed to the c a p ta in ’s stare. l i e breaks dow n and tells the story o f his past. T he inform ation is again w ithheld from the readers. Several clues are dropped, and they point to some serious transgression. H ow ever, the confession is alm ost im mediately followed by a violent denial
Je vais en Amérique pour mes affaires”
is the last ex planation on the p a rt o f the passenger. T h e conversation betw een Suger and his enigm atic interlo cutor is interrupted by the cry ’’T erre” . T he cap tain leaves the room , and after some m om ents he cries ’’N ous arrivo ns” . He does no t know th a t the passenger is dead already.
Is his dea th a physical sign o f failure on the spiritual plane, and o f his inability to face the tru th a b o u t himself? T o claim th at it is the only in terpretation w ould m ean reducing the m arvellous am biguity o f G ree n ’s story. A s I have said, the readers o f this w ork have to share the ignorance o f m ost o f the crew. T he perspective adop ted by b oth sides is basically th a t o f sailors from the B ook o f Jo nah . W hen the sailors throw the p rophet into the sea, the storm ceases im m ediately, bu t for them J o n a h is a dead m an and a pro pitiatio n sacrifice fo r his G o d. T hey ca n no t know th a t the crucial event in the m a n ’s life is going to h appen in the w aters o f d e a th 20, w here Jo n a h experiences G o d ’s grace and illum ination. T he crew from the Bible sec Jo n a h drow n, the readers sec the passenger die, his m ystery rem aining opaque. T he passenger is swallowed by d eath th a t is n o t presented in any concrete shape like a big fish in the B ook o f J o n a h 21. T he m a n presented in Léviathan is either a crim inal or a Jo n ah w hose possible illum ination is again kept secret from the readers.
J. G ree n’s story can be regarded as a pow erful q uestion ab ou t the role o f d eath in hu m an life. C ircum stances o f the passenger’s death seem to po int to w ards the m etaphysical m eaning. As observers o f events, the readers are alm ost persuaded to accept the bleak finality o f the ending. Y et, as the inherito rs o f J o n ah trad ition , they can intuit illum ination th a t m akes d ea th a tu rn in g p oint - a breaking dow n o f the restricting b arriers o f the self. Still, the illum inating m ystery o f death is hidden from th e w orld.
A p a rt from the problem o f Jonah, G reen’s short story alludes to the biblical n arratio n o f deluge, which is evoked via the subject and imagery. In the scenes o f storm s, the ship is lost in the chaos o f elements. Bonne E sperance functions
19 Ibid., p. 174.
20 J. M e G o v e r n , The Waters o f Death, fin:] "Catholic Biblical Quarterly", 1959, Vol. 21, p. 350-358.
21 F o r the ambiguity of fish symbolism in the Book o f Jonah, see: E. R . G o o d e n o u g h , Jewish symbols in the Greco-Roman Period, Vol. 5, Pantheon Books, New York, p. 47.
as a shelter and as a m eans o f escape from the grip o f the past. Affinity w ith the biblical flood is also present a t the end o f the story. In the last days o f the crossing proxim ity o f land is announced by birds22 an d different air th a t is filled w ith fragranc e o f plants. People resemble N o ah in his w aiting for the w aters to lower.
It is interesting to tran sp ose the flood symbolism on profan e geography in which E u ro pe and A m erica have always functioned as the old and new land. T h e passenger yearns to be free from the oppressive m emories; therefo re, he leaves behind the old world, and travels to the land o f prom ise an d renewal. T h e app eara nce o f A m erica on the horizo n is like the emergence o f th e purified ea rth from the chaos o f deluge. U nlike N o ah , the passenger yields to the sea o f d eath. His ark proves insufficient; it becomes his tom b.
T h e m essage o f deluge evinces a strong affinity with the m o tif o f J o n a h 23. J o n a h , who drow ns in th e waters, and J o n a h who is spewed o u t by the fish on the d ry land are tw o different stages o f one personality. T h e old self is ab a n d on ed in d ea th , the new one is gained d ue to G o d ’s m iracle. Jon ah , who overcomes the barriers o f grave, resembles N o ah, the representative o f the new h um an kind rising victorious from the w aters after th e old h um an kin d has been flo od ed 24.
W hile th e deluge n a rrativ e shows the dichotom y between the old and new creation , the beginning o f G reen ’s story presents the passenger as a representative o f the old race th a t is blasted by im m inent death.
Il était grand, vêtu d ’un m anteau de drap usé, avec des poches énorm es où scs mains étaient enfouies; le bord de son chapeau retom bait sur ses yeux et cachait son visage. 11 dem eurait immobile, une grande valise posée à ses pieds25.
In a sense, the passenger looks like a dead m an enveloped in the shroud, his hands resting in inertia. W hen called to his cabin, he retains the look o f fatigue and passivity. The scenery i.e. the quai covered with heaps of coal and pyramids o f barrels generates the am bience o f desolation and sterility. T h e scene o f d e p a rtu re is, in a sense, th e b urial o f the passenger’s old self. T his m ay be the reason why his nam e is never revealed to anybody except th e ca p ta in. T he voyage is prob ably m ean t to sever the links with the surround in gs and form er identity. T he m an hopes he can become someone else, his ’’bonne ćsperance” is the chance o f transfiguring revival. Consequently, his actual nam e is o f no use
22 F or the significance o f birds in the biblical deluge, sec: Genesis, [in:] Good N ews Bible..., 8. 6-15.
23 Cf. J. D a n i e l o u , Les figures du Christ dans ГAncien Testament, Bcauchesne et ses Fils, Paris 1950, p. 58.
24 Ibid., p. 65.
to anyb ody, it has stopped signifying him. T he passenger is suspended in the state o f psychological vacuum , and his indefinite situatio n is enhanced
by the am o rp h ou s aspect o f the sea.
In th e sym bolism o f elem ents w aters have always functioned as an im age o f form lessness prior to any creative act. B oundless vastness is a reservoir o f fu ture choice and change w aiting in their potential. F o r a while, how ever, decisions are p ostpo ned and judgem ents suspended. T he passenger him self seems to indulge in the state o f irreducible am biguity. Besides, B onne E sperance carries the cargo o f raw m aterials; am orpho us m ass can again be seen as a sym bol t h a t corresponds to the m ain ch a rac ter’s state o f m ind and situ atio n in life26.
T he passenger o f B onne E sperance fades aw ay into blankness, since he finds him self in the gap between th e ab andoned and desired self. T he m ain c ha racter o f Through the Panam a suffers from a sim ilar problem because he is n o t an chored in any p artic ular identity. T h e a u to r ’s o bserv ations are im plicit in the w ords o f a n a r ra to r o f Through the P anam a, S igbjorn W ilderness; Sigbjern, in tu rn , m erges into the m ain cha ra cter o f his ow n w ork, M a rtin T ru m b au g h , w ho, at times, fuses w ith o th er persons from L ow ry’s fiction e.g. F irm in . T hus, it is difficult to isolate the m ain ch aracter o f the story, o r he, m ust be defined as a constellation o f identities which keep displacing one another.
[...] first there is dissociation, I am n ot I. I am M artin Trum baugh. But I am n ot M artin Trum baugh or perhaps Firm in either, I am a voice, [...] in a sense I am now a ship, but I am also a voice and also M artin T rum baugh, and now I am, or he is in the realm o f d eath2'.
T he conflict o f selves in Through the Panama seems to fulfil a sim ilar role as the tension betw een the aba ndoned and desired self in L eviathan. F o r M alcolm L owry, revival becom es a crucial con dition on th e creative plane. T he problem s o f self, its past, death and regeneration are strongly connected w ith artistic sensibility. T h e w riter w ho focuses on the intricacies o f the creative process is trapped in the vacuum th at results from a tem po rary exhaustion o f creative potential.
The agony of M artin Trum baugh is [...] the agony o f repeating experiences2*.
T h e agony o f the w riter is th e agony o f m otifs th a t recur and characters th a t reap p ea r in the shape they used to have in form er novels. D eath changes from a prison keeper into a rejected m an uscript, a dead text th a t fails to a ttra c t atten tion . T h e w riter’s ow n creativity turn s against him , he
26 M . E l i a d e, Images und Sym bols, trans. Ph. M aird, Sheed and W ard, New Y ork 1961, p. 152.
27 M . L o w r y , op. cit., p. 37. 28 Ibid., p. 47.
stops un d ersta nd in g anyth in g because he is always lost in the flux o f ideas. T h e voyage is reduced to fou nd erin g in an abyss o f self. O ne o f the passengers i.e. C h aron seems to provide it w ith deadly significance. T he problem th a t to rm en ts the w riter is related to the discovery o f m ission, and it is clothed in intensely biblical idiom . T h e m ain ch a ra cte r conjures up a vision o f th e ro a d to D am ascus29, on which he will be able to u nd ersta nd the striving o f artists. H ow ever, for the tim e being, dark n ess is his penance, and creative ideas lose them selves in chaos.
S ain t P au l’s illum ination and conversion on the road to D am a scus is a n o th er exam ple o f transitio n from the old self to a new one. As such, it correspo n ds to the m o tif o f J o n a h im plicit in IJviathan. L ow ry expresses the th irst fo r illum ination w hose effects could be analogou s to th e crucial experience o f J o n a h o r N o a h . They w ould consist in bursting the lim its o f exhausted self an d in transcend ing ’’the realm o f d e a th ” . L ow ry’s po rte p aro le i.e. M a rtin T ru m b a u g h notices ’’co b alt lightnings” and ’’sizzling se a” d u rin g the storm , an d he calls the im age ” a vision o f c re a tio n ” 30. T h e arriv al in E nglan d possesses a different statu s th an the passenger’s n on- -arrival in A m erica in L éviathan. W hat m atters is n o t the genesis o f the land b u t the problem w heth er a new text can emerge from the w riter’s m en ta l chaos.
L ow ry’s concern for th e text is evident in his ju x tap o sitio n o f The R hym e o f the A ncient M ariner and The Lighthouse Keeper in the m argins o f Through the P anama. In b o th w orks th e role o f the text is different b ut equally crucial. T h e m arin er experiences a healing role o f th e text because telling the sto ry o f his fall is the penance w hich can give him im m ortality. T h e ligh tho use keeper finds illum ination in the text th a t he loves an d adm ires, b u t he fails o n a n o th er p lan e by forgetting to d o his duty. B eautiful and in nocent text proves destructive fo r him. T he n a rra to r o f Through the P anam a is h au n ted by th e idea o f a novelist joyced by his ow n petard i.e. ’’killed by his novel, the m align forces it arou ses” 31. T h e desired text can m e an a liberation from spiritual dryness o r an nih ilation o f the a u t h o r’s life a nd creativity. T h e a u t h o r’s obsession finds an unexpected equivalen t in L éviathan ; the passenger seems to be a m an killed by his ow n s to ry 32. G re en ’s w ork con stitute s a revealing introdu ction into L ow ry’s plight in Through the Panam a. I t is a m etap ho rical illustration o f different stages th a t the n a r ra to r finds him self in e.g. d ea th o f the old exhausted self and the state o f suspension betw een the old and new creative life - L ow ry is
29 Ibid., p. 85. 30 Ibid., p. 74. 31 Ibid., p. 36.
32 F o r a different interpretation, see: N. K o s t i s , The Exorcism o f S e x and Death, fin:] J. Green's Novels, Boston University Press, Paris 1973, p. 41-42.
trap pe d in the m o m ent o f J o n a h ’s pangs before illum ination. F launted w ith the vision o f a novelist killed by his ow n book, the w riter rem ains suspended in G reen ’s dilem m a. Will the new self and new text com e into existence, or will the old text destro y the possibility o f regeneration?
Institute o f English Studies University of Łódź
Dorota Filipczak
L Ë V IA T H A N JU L I ENA G REENA I ŚM IER Ć „STA REG O ,ГЛ” W TH RO U G H TH E P A N A M A MA LCO LM A LO W RY ’EG O
A rtykuł omawia rolę writerly text (pojęcie R. Barthesa) w powieści M. Lowry’ego Through the Panama. Writerly text obejmuje m. in. notatki na marginesach oraz odw ołania do autorów i dzieł literackich zaw arte w głównym tekście. W zmianka o opow iadaniu J. G reena Léviathan stanowi pu nk t wyjścia dla interpretacji utw oru M. Lowry’ego. Podobieństw a między tekstami przejaw iają się w: 1) użyciu motywu podróży przez ocean; 2) traktow aniu morza jak o przyczyny niepokoju; 3) poczuciu bycia obserwowanym.
W opow iadaniu Léviathan istotną rolę odgryw a symbolika motywu Jonasza. U tw ór G reena przedstaw ia jakby pierwszą część losów biblijnego bohatera w idzianą oczami jego towarzyszy podróży. Prow okuje to d o postawienia pytania, czy ukryta przed ludźmi tajem nica przemiany losu Jonasza nie dotyczy rów nież bohatera Greena? Obrazowanie Léviathana naw iązuje także do opisu biblijnego potopu. Symbolika obu w ątków biblijnych wiąże się z przejściem od „starego” do „now ego człowieka” (Jonasz, Noe). Śmierć „starego ja ” może oznaczać śmierć dotychczasowej osobowości twórczej bohatera powieści Lowry’ego. Pytanie czy pojawi się nowy tekst, a wraz z nim now a wrażliwość artystyczna autora, pozostaje otwarte.
