Preface
I believe that I can fly……and I believe that God help us in every second
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INTRODUCTION
In human, we will find a great psyche in a perfect body. Perfect body in lexical meaning is complete face, two hands, two legs, and of course with ten fingers both leg and hand. You are also considerate your complete internal body and the balance measurement, not more, not less. What will happen if human does not have complete body? They are still live and survive as usual as human. We can learn about human body in all of subject matter in school1. But it is only study about the substantive or material, like another branch of science. Like Physics, Astronomy, Geography, Arithmetic, Legal science, Mathematics or Mechanics and all of branches is a definite and real science; even so Psychology. Yet, we know the Philosophy is not like that.
We will tell about the science, Philosophy, in relation with literature. We will discuss it in Pastoral Symphony written by Andre Gide. As we know, Andre’s short novel contains a lot of meanings, philosophy and symbols. But I only focus to the Philosophy as the most important in human being that always forgotten. We will discuss and study it on the next part.
Now, I will tell about Andre Gide, the writer. Andre Gide born in 1869. His first book in 1891, Les Cahiers d’Andre Walter or The Notebooks of Andre Walter, did not so famous. Then he wrote Traite du Narcisse (The Treatise of the Narcissus). His other books La Tentative Amoureuse (The Attempt at love), Le Voyage d’Urien (Travels of Urien). Before he wrote Le Symphonie Pastorale in 1919, he wrote Isabelle (1911) and in 1914, Les Caves Du Vatican (Lafcadio’s Adventure). All of his books wrote in French. (http://www.andregide.org/gidebio2.html)2.
Pastoral Symphony or Le Symphonie Pastorale does not tell about The Blind Girl but more complex, it tells about how human can survive; death and live, tear, sad, love and happiness; mixed become a perfect unification.
The story began when the Pastor did his pastoral journey, two years and six months ago. He drove back from La Chaux-de-Fonds. Abruptly, a little stranger girl came to him and took him to place about five miles away from his place at the time. He found old woman lying on old bed in the hut. She just died. When his gaze fell on the corner of the hut, he found a little pity girl.
He took the girl home. But, Amélie, the Pastor’s full affection wife, object her. She did not like the dirt girl. The welcome he was accepted from her families, was not as warmth as he wished. Only Charlotte who was happy with the coming new family in her home. Charlotte gave her the new name, Gertrude.
Gertrude first condition was very apprehensive. She cannot speak and communicate, only utter with the odd moans. He named it as plaintive whines of a puppy. She cannot sit and always slipped off the seat. The pastor led her near the fireplace.
Then, the Pastor taught her everything except the bad thing. But, his affection as shepherd changed into love as amour3 and destroyed her life. He left his families into a tragic condition. His love to Gertrude brought him into hard position.
His son, Jacques, fell in love with Gertrude. The final story, Jacques became a catholic after Gertrude death. She killed herself. The Pastor lost his families. His families especially his wife seem avoid him.
The occurrence to characters in Pastoral Symphony is our real life. I choose this topic not because I just showing off. I want to show the reality of human life. A lot of people around us have the experience like the characters in the story. Perhaps I become one of them, experience the turbulence in my mind, the enormous mental crisis. It is a process because human life is a process, a long process to existence. I just want to compare my personal life, the life of people around me and the pastor life in the novella. Basically, I feel the process come to my life. And my major references are my real life, when books cannot fulfill my mind needed. I have not find what I looking for at all of books as a references. THEORY AND ANALYSIS
“If you thirst for peace of soul and happiness, trust it.
If you want become child of justness, seek it.” 4
Theory about Existentialism is theory about the human philosophy. The sparker of this theory is Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). He developed the ethics philosophy based on evolution theory. Live are a struggle to exist and only the proper organism that can continue their life. Thus, power is the main virtue and frailty is disgraceful wickedness. The best people are someone who can perpetuate their life, triumphant, and win; the worst one is someone who cannot survive, they will buried and lose.
Life is battlefield, place for whole creature to fight, therefore they can survive. And in the struggle - names existence, we do not need the kindness except for the force; the live requirement is not the modesty but the proud of human self. It is not altruism, only the sharp intelligence. And, law in the live is not rude made by human, but made by nature (natural law). The similarities and democracy are incompatible with the real nature selection and perpetuity of live; justness is contrary with power. It is true arbiter from whole difference and whole creature fate. (Zainal Abidin, 2000:85-86).5
The sublime is the artistic subjugation of the awful. Pessimism is a sign to destruction and optimism is a sign to superficiality of live, while “tragic optimism” is a mood from strong and great man, who seeks intensity and increase experience (though by adding misery) and they happy to find that harshness is law of the life. (Zainal Abidin, 2000:90).
The superman is not born by nature. Biological process do not fair toward the great individuals; nature really cruel to its best product; nature would prefer love and protect average human; there is perpetual deviation to variety of human. Therefore, the superman can live and exist only through human selection, through intelligence improvement (eugenic foresight), and education that increase sublimity of individuals and level of life. Education for Übermensch (superman) should very hard, so they able to change tragedy become comedy; weeping becomes laugh. People who walk through the high mountain will laugh at all of tragedy. Energy, intelligence and self-esteem produce the superman. (Zainal Abidin, 2000:100-101).
The subject matter will be discuss in this paper is about life of the figures in the Pastoral Symphony approach with the theory of existentialism. The man who will exist is the superman according Nietzsche, and the existence always passes through the steps. The conception of the steps is proposed by Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855). Three steps of human existentialism are esthetic, ethic and religion.6
Esthetics is a step of human where the live orientation pointed to get joyful. At this man is dominated by sex instinct (libido), by hedonistic contentment principle and act follow the mood.
Esthetics human can be found everywhere and every time. Esthetics human can form into everyone; include philosopher, scientist, or even the pastor (in Gide’s novella), as far as they do not have passion, enthusiasm, commitment, and proper involvement in their life. So, actually they do not have real life, because they do not need plunge their self into reality of live. If human live in a hedonic manner, and do not have passion or enthusiasm or involvement, so what will happen to their soul? Despair. Esthetics human do not have definite ideology. They do not know what their real desire. Their life relies on mood and finally they cannot choose the choice. There are only two the way out of it: they killed their self, run to madness, or come to higher level that is ethic level.
Choose step of ethic live mean change live pattern from esthetic to ethic. There is a repenting here, where the individuals try to accept moral virtue. In Pastoral Symphony, the pastor does not experience this step. Pastor still follow his conscience.
Authenticity of human life as a subject or “I” will reached when individuals - with “closed eyes”, jump and merge to God reality. Religion value is a subjective purity, so that difficult to be accepted by common sense. This is the highest level of existentialism of human life. People who can reach this level are the best creature. They can pass the three steps of sublimity. (Zainal Abidin, 2000:134-138).
The three level of human existentialist are described by three characteristics that is facticity (throwness), anxiety, and despair. Sartre told that existentialism is described by the utterance Existence precedes Essence. The slogan means that we do not have predetermined nature or fundamental to control what we are, what we do, or what is the valuable for our live. As seen on Kierkegaard’s written, Sartre also write that we create our own values and human nature through the free choices. (Jean Paul Sartre)7
The theory above in related with Andre Gide’s novella, Le Symphonie Pastorale or Pastoral Symphony. The novella reminds us to the pastor live process. He is a pastor; as we know that he teach the truth of live, belief in God and obey to Commandment of God. Once in his live he met the orphan blind girl whom bring him into various life. His life is like a symphony, which has low tone (mineur) and high tone (mayeur), even there is modulation in tone. It becomes harmony of his live. In his fidelity as a pastor and head of household, he experiences forbidden love to young girl. He finds his self in anxiety situation. He cannot run away from the situation. Then he let the feeling go on. He lost in Gertrude beauty and purity. He ignores his families. His feeling grows slowly. Initially, he was unconscious about it.
Gertrude’s first smiles consoled me for everything and repaid me for my pains a hundredfold. For “and if so be that he find it”, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.” Yes, verily, the smile that dawned for me one morning on that marble face of hers, when she seemed suddenly touched on to understanding and interest by what I had been trying for so many days to teach her, flooded my heart with a more seraphic joy than was ever given me by any child of my own. (page 145)
He experiences the esthetics step. He does not have commitment and proper involvement like Kierkegaard’s theory. His anxiety comes from his bottom of his heart, not from his families or his wife, Amélie. He faces internal contradiction. He must have responsibility of choosing one of his own nature and values.
The forbidden feeling make the pastor live unnatural. He begins to uncommon behavior. He is descended by worry and apprehension, even jealous. He trapped with his blind love. He feels his live is uncomfortable anymore, but unfortunately, he enjoy that. His blue feeling brings him to bad situation. He does not believe to his environment. Once, he saw his son, Jacques, with Gertrude in the church was playing the organ. Jacques taught Gertrude when previously she refused from the pastor. He feels disappointed.
A great sadness filled my heart, but we neither of us made any allusion to the episode I have just described. (page 156)
He angry to his condition, so that he use his power as a head of household to make them separated. He begins to lose his control of his self. He passes through the facticity or throwness character of human situation.
“Gertrude is too young,” I said at last. “You must reflect that she has not yet been confirmed. You know she was unhappily not like other children and did not begin to develop till very late. She is so trustful that she would no doubt be only too easily touched by the first words of love she heard; that is why it is importance not to say them. To take possession of what is defenseless is cowardice; I know that you are not a coward. Your feelings, you say, are no way reprehensible; I say they are wrong because they are premature. It is our duty to be prudent for Gertrude till she is able to be prudent for herself. It is a matter of conscience.” (page 158)
The pastor’s utterance is in contradiction with his real feeling. He adds his misery. He cannot bury his love in the deep place and haul the dirt on his heart. While, actually he considers that his love is forbidden.
I could still doubted that I loved her. The fact is that I would not then allow that any love outside marriage could be permissible, nor at the same time would I allow that drew me so passionately to Gertrude. (page 165)
When he feel the reality cannot hidden. He told to the purity heart about his feeling that he cannot avoid it.
“My dear Gertrude, everyone knows I love you,” I cried. But she was not to be put off. (page 173)
After this conversation, they lose their self. His losing control brings him into despair. He gives up when Gertrude died. But actually he has passed the process, live process to existentialism. Now, he exists with his suffering. His belief to God and his spiritual force bring him to the authenticity. And he can escaped from the worst situation, that is killed him self. But I do not know he is a superman or “overman”.
The same thing happened to his son, Jacques. He runs to the religion. He reaches the third level by Kierkegaard, religion. Therefore he goes away from his families and his father (he become catholic), but his despair change him into existentialism.
It is incompatible with the fragile heart, Gertrude. She cannot pass all of the process. She desperate and buried herself into nothingness.
“I don’t want the happiness of that kind. You must understand that I don’t - I don’t care about being happy. I would rather know. There are a great many things - sad things assuredly - that I can’t see, but you have no right to keep them from me. I have reflected a great deal during these winter months; I am afraid, you know, that the whole world is not as beautiful as you have made me believe, pastor ¾ and, in fact, that it is very far from it.” (page 173)
CONCLUSION
Death is all God; now we will see Superman live…
I teach you, Superman. Man is something that you must pass through. Have you pass it?…. I love to the man who do not know how the live is, except for destroying and become victim but he sacrifice their self for earth, in order that earth will be Superman’s.
(Zarathusta by Nietzsche)
The process of human live has predestined by God for us. The superiority of our live in compare with animal placed at the language ability. But, if the capability of identification is not appear all, can we consider that speech ability may become great intellect profit?
The perils that pastor done, bring all his families into ill-omened fate. The occurrence also become to us. We do not consider what will happen then, but finally when we have passed the process of live, we know that we are Übermensch.FOOTNOTE
1 taken from Filsafat Manusia by Zainal Abidin, 2000:3 (Bab:Pengertian dan Ruang Lingkup Filsafat Manusia).
2 taken from The Life and Works of Andre Gide 1869-1951 written by Marc Beigbeder (professor of philosophy and literature at the Lycee de Carthage).
3 taken from 4 Teori Kepribadian by Bernard Poduska (2000:30). This theory told about how to love people and God. Love as amour is love for couple (women to men or the opposite). He called it erotic love.
4 taken from Nietzsche by ST. Sunardi (2001:1).
5 Zainal Abidin adapted the writing from Will Durrant’s classic work, Story of Philosophy (New York, 1927). Will Durrant give a critical opinion to Nietzsche’s philosophy.
6 Zainal Abidin write in his part of book : Existensi Manusia Sebagai Mahkluk Subjektif dan Individual : Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855). He refers to Kierkegaard written namely Existentialism from Within.
7 title of the written is Summary of Some Main Points from Sartre’s Existentialism and Human Emotions (http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/sartreol.html)
REFERENCES
Gide, Andre. Pastoral Symphony. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1965.
K. Bertens. Filsuf-filsuf besar tentang manusia. Yogyakarta: Kanisius, 2000.
Polanyi, Michael. The Study of Man. Chicago: Unity of Chicago Press, 2001.
Poduska, Bernard. 4 Teori Kepribadian. Jakarta: Restu Agung, 2000.
ST. Sunardi. Nietzsche. Yogyakarta: LKIS, 2001.
Zainal Abidin. Filsafat Manusia. Bandung: PT. Remaja Rosdakarya, 2000.
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Mbak boleh tahu buku referensi pastoral symphony bisa di download dimana?
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