Write a 6 page essay on Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, how does the theme of politics function in the novel.Download file to see previous pages... The direct mentioning of politics

Write a 6 page essay on Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, how does the theme of politics function in the novel.

The direct mentioning of politics is first found in the beginning of the novel, when Tomas and Tereza discuss the possibility of immigrating to Switzerland after the entry of Soviet army to Czechoslovakia in August 1968. Tomas is seen to have received an offer for a job from the Swiss hospital, and Tereza urges him to leave Czechoslovakia, despite his initial misgivings about the feasibility of such a step (Kundera 26-28). The novel’s depiction of the character’s reaction to Soviet occupation is telling. Tereza spends a lot of time in the street, filming possible abuses of Soviet troops on camera, and even getting arrested by the Soviet officer, while Tomas contemplates the emigration to Switzerland. It is inferred that Czechs received the news of Soviet troops’ entry to their country with both fear and ridicule: while the citizens of Prague clearly felt indignation over the effective arrest of Dubcek and other reformist leaders of Czechoslovak CP, they are at the same time fearful of the possible consequences of rebellious attitude. Even while the streets are decorated with “thousands of hand-painted bearing ironic texts” sharply critical of Brezhnev and Soviet army (Kundera 28), and Kundera remarks that the atmosphere in the city was that of “a drunken carnival of hate” (28). ...

e is described in the symbolic tones: he is portrayed as a “devastated” man, “stuttering and gasping for breath”, and Kundera compares his state of mind to that of Czechoslovakia in general, observing that henceforth, the country would “gasp for air like Alexander Dubcek” (Kundera 28). This might indicate that Kundera and his characters viewed the defeat of the Prague Spring as a beginning of the “workaday humiliation” (28) for their country. Nonetheless, Tomas and Tereza did not live for too much time in Zurich. Tereza’s inability to live through the life abroad and her feeling of the burden she was for Tomas in the new circumstances made her decide to return to Prague, despite the continuing presence of foreign troops there (Kundera 31). This event shook Tomas greatly. He found out that he missed Tereza and, despite his reluctance, Tomas decided to follow her and return to Prague. His dialogue with Genevan doctor reveals that Tomas believed that, even though this decision is a hard one, given the political circumstances, he should make it (Kundera 35). While Tomas returns to Czechoslovakia, he sees “columns of Russian tanks” (Kundera 36), and actually hesitates, mulling over whether his decision to return to Prague is totally justified. However, he still feels compassion for Tereza and cannot bear that she should live in Prague alone, while he resides in Zurich, and so he returns and meets Tereza in their flat, while seemingly losing all enthusiasm about his return (Kundera 36). The second important allusion to political problems in the novel is found in the beginning of Part 2 (“Soul and Body”), when the author presents an account of early life of Tereza.