The horsemen too seemed identical” (291).
“The earth and the sky above have reflected one another for so long that they have finally become undistinguishable” (291).
“And in November and December-before the first snows-it’s impossible to tell whether the earth has been dried and hardened by the sun or by frost” (292).
In the beginning of the reading, these three quotations stuck out. The language and diction really lead the readers to question the state of the society. Ignoring the context for a minute, what should we make of these quotes? Is this some sort of message that Grossman is trying to send us about Russian culture and the era of Stalin? The idea of an identical, homogeneous population all supporting the Stalinist effort is quite frightening. Please, let me know what you think.
“Everything passes” (292).
Maybe I’m looking way too deep into this. Funny, it’s not often you hear something like that coming out of Connor’s mouth. But, what is Grossman saying here? What passes? Stalin’s regime?
“If someone has lost his freedom, the steppe will remind him of it…” (292).
“I’m losing my mind out here in the steppes” (296).
The final thing I’d like to discuss in this post with you is these two quotes. The steppe is clearly an important location in the novel and very symbolic. Here, we see the notion of liberty attached to this historic location. Clearly, Russia is not exactly in a state of liberty. Many characters live in fear of Stalin and his unyielding hand. Yet here, we see Grossman alluding to some form of hope…to liberty, a concept that seems foreign in this era. So, how do are we to understand this? For me, the steppe represents a step out of reality. Through Darensky’s eyes, we are seeing a part of Russia that has been forgotten…the idea of an ancient liberty has clearly been erased form these people’s minds. Yet, it lives here in the steppes.
I know this may not measure up to my comrades’ intelligent writing, but I really am interested in diction, and I am of the opinion that every word written is done purposefully. There are no coincidences! Let me know what you think.
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Good job reading with a literary lens, Connor.
ReplyDelete“The earth and the sky above have reflected one another for so long that they have finally become undistinguishable” (291).
“And in November and December-before the first snows-it’s impossible to tell whether the earth has been dried and hardened by the sun or by frost” (292).
The above two quotes along with "white splashes of salt, little clouds of dust kicked up by flocks of sheep, past small fires that gave off no smoke and danced in the wind" are all clear depictions of Grossman's deft literary technique (291). Indeed, even when translated into English, Grossman's words retain a stark vividness. Although you may be reading a little too closely (which is not necessarily a bad thing), you may be on to something with your interpretation of an "identical, homogeneous" population. Perhaps, the diction and the literary images serve to accentuate the overwhelming control that Stalin has over every member of the Party and citizen of Russia. Although he does not see all of his subjects, they all fear his power. As seen in earlier posts, Viktor doesn't mention his ambivalence towards his profession to his co-workers because of his fear of Stalin's influence. Furthermore, the depictions of the dismal Russian lands and the hardness of winter highlight the depressing spirit of the war itself. Grossman even says that "the earth and sky have blurred together, dusty and ageless" (291). Thus in an extended metaphor, Grossman portrays the zeitgeist of the invasion of Russia by the Germans as "dusty and ageless." Most importantly, Grossman gradually builds the setting of his novel with each literary image.
Diction is as important as any ideological references or philosophical remark, Connor. I really like the originality of your post.
ReplyDelete“If someone has lost his freedom, the steppe will remind him of it…” (292).
“I’m losing my mind out here in the steppes” (296).
These are two of my favorite quotes so far in this novel. I am intrigued by the nostalgic undertones of Grossman's writing. It expresses an somewhat universal Soviet desire to return to the simple yet blissful past. The industrialization and modernization initiated by the Bolsheviks has left Old Russia in the dust, and there are clearly many soldiers like Darensky who long for the "noble and ancient world... where there are no screaming colours or harsh lines..but only (those) that can rival the colours of a Russian forest in autumn" (292) Grossman's imagery, as Dara referenced in his post, plays a key role is describing a uniquely Russian desire to reestablish the specialized, individualistic, highly emotive connection each of them share with the unique purity of the Russian spirit and livelihood. The steppe, for the Russian people, is the final haven, a beautiful landscape untouched by the Revolution, the Bolshevik totalitarian agenda, and most importantly the war. Moreover, it is described so vividly and masterfully truly reveals the potential of Grossman's literary brilliance.
I think Darensky's encounter with the old man on horseback at the end of chapter 65 is worth noting. The scene is filled with contradictory details that suggest Darensky's conflicted feelings about Stalinist Russia. Darensky notes that the old man has "the agility of youth with the thoughtful caution of age" (292), and eyes with a look of "trust blended with wary scrutiny" (293). Darensky attempts to stereotype the old man by associating his attributes with generic qualities such as young, old, trusting, etc., but Darensky cannot and instead recognizes the uniqueness of the man. It seems the old man's individuality troubles Darensky because it undermines the virtue of equality and collective will that Stalinism values. Darensky then questions the benevolance of his government when the old man tells Darensky that his one son was killed in the war while the other son became a hero. Darensky then suggests that his mother survived the war but his father did not.
ReplyDeleteCourageously constructed criticisms, Connor
ReplyDeleteTo look out of a second floor window from Carey Hall, onto the green fields bathed in sunlight, it becomes apparent that freedom is not always in one’s grasp. But to sit in a cold cell, trying to suppress the deafening rumbles of hunger and gather enough strength to sleep after a hard day’s labor is to be wacked over the head with the fact that there is no freedom.
When Darensky travels through the steppe where “the earth has been dried and hardened” (292), he has a single word pounding in his head, “freedom…freedom…freedom” (293). He witnesses an old man on horseback who can gallop through the steppe, far away from the lieutenant-colonel and his broken jeep. Though his life has been deeply touched by the war, the old Kalmyk still retains a strand of freedom that Darensky deeply envies.
“If someone has lost his freedom, the steppe will remind him of it…” (292). It is a place where a man can ride through “a world where there are no screaming colours or harsh lines… a world whose soft undulating hills capture the heart” (292). As Evan points out, “The steppe, for the Russian people, is the final haven, a beautiful landscape untouched by the Revolution, the Bolshevik totalitarian agenda, and most importantly the war.” At the same time, however, a man can be caged in the cold, dark cellars of the Gulag, along the frozen ground of the Russian steppe. For Russians, the steppe makes up a large portion of their country. As such, it is befitting that the steppe can hold these two extremes of freedom and slavery.
Most of the commentary I was going to share has already been aired by my fellow classmates, so I will keep my response specific to one of your questions. You ask, when referring to the quote, “Everything passes” (Grossman 292): what exactly passes? I think that Grossman successfully conveys in the various subplots that everything, literally everything, passes eventually, the lives of commoners in Russia, soldiers to war, the death of a loved one, and any sort of ephemeral blip in the timeline of the Stalinist state. Grossman creates a stark contrast between the state and its subjects, for the well-being of Stalinism, in the hearts and minds of the people at the time, is more important than the well-being of any particular individual. The lives of people in Russia move along at a steady pace, slowly passing by time; thus, everything passes, sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteAs Belzberg said the Steppe contains the least free place in Russia, the Gulag. So how can a place that contains a place with no freedom also be the only free place left in Russia? I think that the Steppe has no freedom because of the fact that the Gulag is in the Steppe. The only people that actually live in the Steppe have no freedom and anyone that visits the Steppe shouln't feel like there is any freedom there because it is where the least free people in the world reside.
ReplyDeleteEvan said that the Steppe is untouched by the Bolshevik revolution and that it is the last haven in Russia. I disagree because the Gulag is a tool of the Government and it is located within the Steppe. So how can it be untouched by the Government when their biggest tool for striking fear into people is located in the Steppe?
Interesting post conner. as far as reading too far into it i think that is a matter of opnion. did the author intend what you have gleaned from his work? probably not. but just because it was not intended does not mean it should not be understood. the two quotes i appreciated the most out of the ones you chose were "The horsemen too seemed identical” (291) and “The earth and the sky above have reflected one another for so long that they have finally become undistinguishable” (291). The first one would clearly be a result of the mere fact that at this time under a totalitarian regieme everything had that same grey, bland look about it. i think the second one has more to do with the way in which stalin was succsefull fusing everything together as one, namely the people and the party; the russian spirit and the socialist ideals.
ReplyDeleteConnor, one overarching theme of the quotes that you chose for your post is that several of them talk about the transformation of nature from vital and energetic to uniform and lifeless. In my opinion, and it seems that you would agree, Grossman is creating a metaphore between the nature and the Russian people, who used to be full of emotion and diverse like the earth and the sky but have now, as a result of the Stalinist regieme that has converted the historic steppes into cold lifeless terrain used for commmunist activites such as the Gulags, become subdued and collorless like a bland terrain juxataposed with a grey sky. In this way Grossman can talk about a yearning for the steppes as a metaphore for the yearning for the old Russia and at the same time critisize the modern Russia without talking about it directly.
ReplyDeleteI like how you picked out quotations pertaining to nature in this scene. A common thread between them seems to be a lack of clarity, and the inability to make clear disinctions. The earth and sky becomes undistinguishable and the ground could have been affected by either the sun or the frost. Because of this lack of clarity, Grossman goes a step further and mentions that "in a moment of exhaustion, a man can transform this sky and this earth into the world of his dreams". This setting presents a metaphor for how the mind can be decieved. To the exhausted people of Russia, their goverment could seem to have provided them with a country of their dreams.
ReplyDeleteThe "inability to make clear distinctions" among these images I think is a marker/representation of the culture the Communist regime strove to create. A culture void of distinction and of the individualistic values of the West, Russia under Communist rule had retained a certain uniformity that made each member a product of it's own identity. The uniqueness of character, the diversity of the people who made up Russia, the value of each human mind separate from another had been stripped of the people and what was left was the one thing they all shared in common: being Russian.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that the description of the steppe is meant to show the lack of individualism created by Communist society. The quote “If someone has lost his freedom, the steppe will remind him of it” certainly doesn’t support this theory. Moreover, the steppe is not central Russia, but one of the colonized areas, with its own native peoples. It is more an unchanging land than one subject to Communism. It is the same steppe that existed in czarist times, the same steppe that existed when the Mongols rode over it. It will be the same steppe long after the very name of Stalin is forgotten. (Wow, now you’ve gotten me into a mayfly mood. Thanks, jerk.)
ReplyDeleteThe extension of Connor's second quote is "reflected one another for so long that they have finally become undistinguishable, like a husband and wife who have spent their whole lives together." In this case then, Grossman does seem to be commenting on the fact that people with differing, unique, individual opinions and characteristics all in time tend to merge together. In this way then, I suppose that these people become the ideal fodder for a totalitarian state - people without strong beliefs of their own combined with a willingness to listen to others, to the point of becoming indistinguishable. It is this loss of personal identity, of "humanness" that lies at the core of this oppression.
ReplyDeleteCool comments comrade Connor!
ReplyDeleteI thought the passage about Keyze was especially interesting. Grossman describes him as a burglar and a killer and describes his eyes: "[even] when they took on an expression of merriment, they inspired terror." The other prisoners are afraid to cross him, but the new guy comes in and punches him in the face. Keyze responds by giving him the best spot in the barracks and a boiled egg. The other members of the barracks treat both of them with respect. Perhaps this is a insight from Grossman on human behavior? One need not be cruel to keep other men in line.