The Good Soldier Svejk - Essay Example

Analysis of the Good Soldier Svejk The novel, ‘the Good Soldier Svejk’ was created by Jaroslav Hasek who was able to define the Czechs during the 20th century than any other author. He gave a recount of how people used to behave during the First World War, ridiculing the bureaucracies and the religious churches such as the Catholic. The novel is indeed a satire and utilizes various Czech oriented mythologies such as being anti-catholic to explain in length on the history of the Czechs. Therefore, this discourse focuses on analyzing the novel in terms of the national myths that have been analyzed by the author as well as the main characteristics that have been explored and satirized such as the use of national language, utilization of legal symbols, and religious objects among others. The novel describes the happenings of the First World War that resulted from the murder in Sarajevo. Characters such as Svejk display a great interest in serving the Australian emperor during the war that it was hard to decide whether he was simply crafty or an idiot who undermined the efforts of the war. Subsequently, he gets arrested by the secret police, Bretschneider, when he makes sensitive remarks about politics and later sent to penitentiary. It is then claimed that he was insane and was sent to a madhouse before he was ejected. Subsequently, he uses his intellect to join the army as batman to the chaplain of the army who is Otto Katz. Generally, the narrative recounts of how a rogue was able to use his wits and survived various misfortunes. It gives a limelight to a corrupt and complex society where the main character is always on the move from the beginning of the novel. One of the key elements that the author has used in sustaining and creating interest and making the characteristics more credible is in developing the main character and how he is enlightened by the struggles in his life. The amazing and picaresque novel is a genre that has exemplary characteristics such as satire, which enables the author to introduce various social types in funny and bizarrely situations. This he does to expose their vanity, stupidity, and hypocrisy. The form used does not make difficult demands to have intricate plotting as in the case of detective stories but rather has detailed characterization of persons who are comic strips with regard to social types. The style employed demands an interesting and sympathetic central character as well as witty satire in order to sustain the interest’s of the reader in all the episodes. Hasek satirize s and explores various characteristics in the novel. He confronts his readers with a didactic voice of a raconteur in considerable lengths and at times casually. For example, in chapter eleven, he is able to give a two page rant on religion and the readers get to know that he was also a soldier after interrupting the story of Svejk to deliver a brief lecture on army and batmen (Hasek 162-165). Such attribute is important in the novel since it reveals that the narrator knows what he is talking about, considering that he had prior experience. Such intrusions do not contribute much to the story as they underscore issues that are already evident in the satire. This is because given what exactly happens in the novel, the readers do not need to be reminded of the hypocrisy of religion or the corruption, as well as the incompetence of the priests. They also do not need to know about the idiocy of the military justice; hence, his rants are rather satirical. The tone of the narrator during the intrusions is definitely remarkable because it contrasts with the typical genial satire or irony that is used in fiction. For instance he asserts, “They were now going back to the front to get new wounds, mutilations and pains and to earn the reward of a simple wooden cross over their graves. Years after on the mournful plains of East Galicia a faded Austrian soldier’s cap with a rusty Imperial badge would flutter over it in wind and rain. From time to time a miserable old carrion crow would perch on it, recalling fat feasts of bygone days when there used to be spread for him an unending table of human corpses and horse carcasses, when just under the cap on which he perched there lay the daintiest morsels of all human eyes” (Hasek 230). From the above quote, it is easy to say that throughout the novel, the narrator is able to consistently inject unrelenting irony and a satirical grim, mostly with regard to the insincerity of the church, the destructiveness of the combat, and the stupidity of the police as well as the army such as that of Colonel Friedrich Zillergut. In that case, the comedy of the main character, Svejk, and his adventures has been perfectly played out against a milieu of bitter and sharp narrative commentary. The characteristic or feature of Hasek’s unique style develops a curious tension, mostly when the readers notice the narrator’s harsh tone and the ironic presence of the main character. It is as if the readers are watching a funny comedy in the center of a graphic and real backdrop of immense atrocity. Consequently such a feature prevents the readers from sentimentalizing Svejk since they are often reminded of the circumstances he has had to deal with, the abuse, as well as the cruelties that he has to cope with, which are not just mere exaggerations of fiction tales. The anti-war novel has been written with a focus to some of the absurd situations that the author had to go through during the First World War. Therefore, the war is imperative in the novel, since most of the characters are associated with it and various actions happen within the military unit. It is also a great satire, which focuses on the labyrinthine structures that are huge and set in order to make the modern nation more equitable and efficient. In that case, it is rational to argue that the army as well as its actions symbolizes a perfect deal and not necessarily the simple or meager military procedures that are present during war. The bureaucratic structure of authority as well as the characteristic way in which it has been acted is a clear manifestation of the contemporary social authority and the author’s attack on the issues as well as the idiocy that is happening; hence, sets the novel to greater heights. It is obvious that the book has dark sense of humor and inexorable savage assault with regard to the bureaucratic administrative system. What the author ridicules in the book is adjacent to the heart of today’s numerous institutions. His satire on bureaucracy is relatively simple and quite lively. He pictures most of the practitioners such as the clergy, the emperor, the drunks, and the petty officials as explicitly racists in their roles and when dealing with specific ethnic groups. The only concern of characters such as Palivec, Bretschneider, and Warder Slavik among others is to personally benefit and have their positions protected. Hasek has an immense dislike for traditional justifications that aim at controlling human beings be it political, religious, military, or judicial. He constantly ridicules religious symbols such as the crucifixes and official images for instance the law books, which he claims that no one trusts in them and they are only used as a sign of authority. This can be explained in how he handles Otto Katz in the first part of the book when the drunken priest scrambles for objects to use as holy symbols. He also ridicules the Advocates Ruller’s office and affirms: “A volume of the legal code lay before him, and a half consumed glass of tea stood on top of it. On the table on the right stood a crucifix made out of imitation ivory with a dusty Christ, who looked despairingly at the pedestal of his cross, on which there were ashes and cigarette stubs” (Hasek 388). Hasek also satirizes the official language, which he argues that it is meant to impose false ideas on people. Throughout the novel, he mocks the newspaper reports and Maek, who is a volunteer soldier. He ridicules him and argues that he spends his entire time, “writing up in advance the heroic deeds of the battalion” (Hasek 581). He alleges that he only writes the hyperbolic fictions and has no regard to the main realities of the war. The author is not concerned about the prose of the army; hence, destabilized the official narratives since they only aim at getting people to accept a specific identity. The author also does a great deal of analyzing the national mythologies of the Czech people. The myths that have been mostly focused on in the novel are with regard to the history of Czech and how they perceived the ethnic groups. Most notably is the machinery as well as the dynasty war that has been depicted in the novel and has been depicted with great irony. Hasek’s experiences with regard to the revolutionary Russia and the war collaborated in his immense mistrust of the great ideas that overreached the common everyday life. He refused the higher order strategy that had been projected in the European culture and became close to the Dadaist movement that emerged during the same era. The symbol of Svejk in the novel also helps in reminding the readers of the cunning man who was rooted in the picaresque documents such as the symbols of Sancho Panza. Some of the styles in which the book has been written can be compared to the contemporary expressionism or realism. The ‘Good Soldier Svejk’ is the epitome of Czech’s national mythologies. It describes a nation that survived many years of oppression not just because of its heroes but because of the Czechs that were born. People who are familiar with the novel can easily concur that the main problem in the masterpiece is related to Svejk’s ambivalent legacy. Nevertheless, the author is able to relate to how the national mythologies contributed to history. For instance, one of the Czech mythologies is being an anti-Catholic. This is embedded deep in the history and it is obvious in the novel since Hasek was contemptuous towards the Catholic Church and matters of religion. He also came from Habsburg monarchy and argued that the Catholic priests were pretenders and were only focused on controlling the people; hence, denying them freedom. The author claimed that the priests were external controllers who Svejk needed to outwit with the use of ludicrous strategies. The religious mythology as well as the satire is obvious when Hasek avows: “His Eminence, the Archbishop of Budapest (Gerzas of Szatmar- Budafal) used in his prayers such beautiful sentences as for instance, “God bless your bayonets that they may pierce deep into your enemies’ bellies. May the most just Lord direct the artillery fire on to the heads of the enemy staffs. May merciful God grant that all your enemies choke in their own blood from the wounds which you will deal them…” the only thing missing in these little prayers was Baszom a Kristus Mariat! [Fuck Christ and the Virgin Mary]” (Hasek 523). It is undoubtedly that ‘the Good Soldier Svejk’ cannot be classified as an anti-war or a humane novel but one that calls for the amelioration on the conditions of humankind. It is easy to work out on what Hasek is against but difficult to analyze what exactly he stands for. The novel expresses an ambivalent and ambiguous sense of humor on political, national, as well as religious clash. During conflicts, the author takes sides and mocks those that are seen to control the society. The novel is certainly satirical with regard to the military and the irrationalities of the Catholic Church as well as the bureaucracies. Work Cited Hasek, Jaroslav. The Good Soldier Svejk. London, UK: Heinemann, 2005. Read More