Thomas Mann
"Disillusionment"
a short story
After rereading the post, I realized that I had focused on the relationship between the story and the song and had ignored some interesting points in the story, or at least, they seemed interesting to me.
I wondered about the source of his disillusionment. He
apparently believes that the problem lies in the situations themselves
rather than in any deficiency in himself: the problem is external
rather than internal. I think it is an internal problem: it is inside him. Either he has excessive expectations or he is deficient in some way.
Another of those ignored points is that the disillusioned man brought forth both types of disappointments: he recognized that he was disappointed not only in those situations where the joy did not reach the hoped for expected levels, but also in those situations where the grief or sadness also did not achieve those heights. It is almost as if he recognized that both had to be necessary: the great joy as well as the great sadness or grief. Is this true: one must be able to experience both?
I think there may be those who would have regretted missing out on the great joys of life while being happy to have escaped those situations of grief or sadness. Could there be those who never missed feeling even the great joys of life? In other words, are there people who would envy the disillusioned man?
Perhaps we all have great expectations in life; hence, we are all fated to be disillusioned. Could this be the "message"? It sounds -- as I frame it -- a bit like Samuel Beckett's view of life; we are all waiting, but we are all disappointed. Okay, perhaps I'm inserting too much of my view into Mann and your thoughtful analysis.
ReplyDeleteR.T.--are you saying that anybody who has great expectations is going to be disillusioned? Or is it that those who have great expectations are at a greater risk than those who have little expectations or none at all?
DeleteWhich is worse--having great expectations and being at risk of disillusionment or having little or no expectations at all?
The more I think about this story, the more I realize that this little story is more complex than the way I first understood it.
Fred, I'm afraid my state of mind leads me to conclude that great expectations are illusions. I'm with Samuel Beckett. We might pretend to be hopeful but Godot never will arrive (unless Godot is death, and then that is another matter completely). I'm a bit like the old man in "Krapp's Last Tape." I keep playing old tapes but go nowhere. Well, there is Godot as a destination.
DeleteFred, I apologize for my cloudy with chance of thunderstorms outlook on things. And Irma ain't helping!
I think that I could not have experienced joy and happiness on the same level if I had not experienced some pain and disappointment. I think some of what is contained in joy is in the contrast. I know that this is not the exact same point that Mann is making but I think that it might be related.
ReplyDeleteBrian Joseph--I agree. While Mann does not explicitly state the point that both are necessary, that he includes both is significant. I think that's the point of the concept of Yin and Yang. Both opposites are necessary. We would not know light as light if darkness did not exist, and so on.
Deletei'm with RT on the question... and i like the reference to Beckett... disillusion is a matter of perspective, i tend to think... what would be an amazing event to one might be hohum to another... and i do believe emotional responses depend on the relativity of the ups and downs of life, to some extent, anyway... winning the lottery when living on skid row has to be an up creator, but it doesn't occur too often... as opposed to winning it if one already had a bajillion dollars wouldn't be exactly the same... for most people...
ReplyDeleteMudpuddle--are you saying the disillusioned man shouldn't be disillusioned because others might not think that was such an amazing experience?
Deleteno, Fred, i'm saying that disillusionment is a point of view... a given situational event can different for different people...
DeleteMudpuddle--ah, OK. I understand. I agree--disillusionment is a subjective or personal response to something.
DeleteI'm a bit confused, and I guess I should reread _Waiting for Godot_, because I don't see the connection.
ReplyDeleteIn Mann's story, I see the following
The disillusioned man (DM) has great expectations about a certain event.
The event takes place.
The DM is unhappy because the event seems to be less than he expected.
I don't see Becket's play here because, if I remember correctly, Godot never appears, which he should if it is to fit Mann's tale.
Now, they may be disappointed because he doesn't appear, but they can't be disappointed because his appearance was less than they expected, which seems to me to be the point in Mann's story.
I hope I'm making some sense here.
Fred, you make sense. I know that I do not make sense. As for WFG, some people think Godot must be God (even though Beckett responded to such theories with something like this: "I know how to spell better than that."), but I now in my late years think Godot must represent Death. Yes, with that formulation, I am being unresponsive to you and Mann. Mea culpa. In any case, I wonder how Beckett would have responded to my theory.
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you a Beckett story:
I was a theater major for my B.A., and I directed WFG for my senior project. I had the chutzpah to write a letter to Beckett via Grove Press, and I invited him to the production. Now, brace yourself. He responded with a short hand-written note; he said he regretted that he would not attend but wished me, the cast, and crew well in our production. I cherished that note from Beckett until it was lost (thrown away I think by the unhappy woman with whom I had been living with while in theater arts graduate school in Fresno, which was a program and degree I did not complete). But at least I have warm memories of the hand-written note.
R.T.--chuckle. . .
DeleteBeckett would have probably answered that he could spell better than that.
A very gracious answer from Beckett. I can see why you treasured that note.