I found William Heinesen’s short stories in Laterna Magica very hard to analyze and hard to find meaning in each of them. However, I did find a few examples of the relationship between individuals and ‘the collective.’ These relationships helped me find deeper meaning in the short stories as a whole. Characters in these stories are constrained by their mental labyrinths and cannot live normally. ‘The collective’ does not appreciate the character’s admirable qualities, so they are looked at as outcasts instead of heroes.
Master Jacob is one character who battles ‘the collective.’ “He was a learned man, a researcher and a collector. He was a fantastic collector of words…” (p. 18). One might think that Jacob, with his wealth of knowledge, would be a highly regarded man among ‘the collective.’ However, this is not the case. No one cared about his collections and research and he was, “met with only scant appreciation of his meticulous language and tireless labor” (p. 20). As a result of no one caring, Jacob withdraws himself from everyone. His only sources of joy are his music, his cat, and his secret rendezvous with Miss Urd. Jacob withdraws himself and cannot live normally because he is so focused on the fact that ‘the collective’ did not appreciate his hard word.
Stubborn Stina battles ‘the collective’ as she imperturbably waits for her seaman Thomas to return. Stina’s friend and family tell her to drop him. “He’s not worth your faithfulness, he’s running wild out there in the great trackless world, he’s boozing and carousing and has a sweetheart at every port” (p. 28). They attempt to sway her away from waiting for him while she is still young and beautiful. However, Stina will not listen to the advice. Even after she receives news that Thomas has perished, there is no change in Stina and she continues to wait. Stina is so focused on the idea of waiting that she is unable to live a normal life. Stina’s dedication can be looked at as admirable, but in reality, ‘the collective’ sees her as a crazy woman who is devoted to a man she will never see again.
The final example I recognized in these short stories was the clash between Midjord’s belief in the miracle he saw and ‘the collective’s’ disbelief in the miracle. Midjord tried to explain to everyone that he had seen Old Tonnes flying in the air after being swept up by the storm. However, all the people he told just smiled and shook their heads. Even the pastor told him, “It’s against the law of gravity and the law of God” (p. 88). We do not know what further action Midjord takes, but we do know that the pastor told him to, “Put a blinder over your eyes and seal over your lips, then you will see that everything will turn out for the best, for you and for me and for all of us” (p.89). This sentence in particular reminded me of Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People. Dr. Stockmann was harshly treated for trying to speak up about what he had discovered about that baths. Midjord is being encouraged to not speak of what he saw. If this short story were to end in a similar manner as the other short stories of Laterna Magica, then I would anticipate that Midjord would not listen to ‘the collective’ and instead continue to speak of the miracle he saw. Midjord would fit very nicely with the other characters that have admirable qualities, but are shunned by ‘the collective.’
2 comments:
I think you make some interesting points about the collective versus the individual. There seems to be, like you said, alot of instances of the individual being set against the collective but what would you say is the significance of this strain? Is the collective always wrong? I think not the stubborn girl was not necisarily right in waiting in my oppinion.
Fine examples, Trevor, in particular: "Stina will not listen to the advice. (...) the collective’ sees her as a crazy woman who is devoted to a man she will never see again."
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