Zeno's Conscience

The book Zeno's Conscience starts with the Preamble written by the psychiatrist of Zeno, accusing to the readers that Zeno was not at all being a reasonable patient in his own process of psychoanalysis. However, in the last chapter of the book Psychoanalysis, Zeno gave the readers a different perspective that the psychiatrist might be the one who was constantly making presumptions and made Zeno sicker than he had ever been. Whether whose opinion is more favored by the scale of truth is left to be judged by the readers, as the story unveiled.

In the first story Smoke,  Zeno appeared as indecisive, a person of weak will: hating what nicotine can do to his health, he thought of various methods to try to get over the bad habit: finding a special date or event to have that last cigarette (including his father's death, switching his department of study in university, ) and recording it,  and even getting into a rehab-like castle arranged by a licensed doctor in the end, but still failing to get over the addiction. He regarded smoking as bad as a disease, and he attempted to justify his reasons of not being able to get over the addiction. "To reduce its outlandish appearance, I even tried to give a philosophical content to the last-cigarette disease" (Svevo 13). But the paradox might not lies in his weak will, but his constant seek of a break-through: that he always want to be free of not smoking, breaking the rule he set for himself. And after breaking the rule, feeling guilty and condemned, he tried to seek for the philosophical meanings behind his acts. He is indeed very curious about himself, as the doctor said in the Preamble, but probably because he has so many paradoxes embedded in his . He casts doubt on himself: why did he never succeeded in quitting smoking, why did his father "slap" him right before his death, whether he in sane or insane...

Zeno's Conscience

After reading "My Father's Death" and "Psychoanalysis" I did believe that Zeno was really suffering from some kind of an illness, but after reading "Smoke" I now believe that Zeno has no illness and is making each one of his illnesses up. In believing this, it becomes contradictory because if Zeno's illness is really not an illness then it must be in his head, which would still be considered an illness - a mental illness. I think Zeno is sick in the head and is making up all these other illnesses to put the attention back on himself. In "My Father's Death" we learn that the Doctor believes Zeno is sexually attracted to his mother and hates his father because his father is married to her. Then in "Psychoanalysis" we learn that Zeno is diabetic and he is happy he is sick. In "Smoke" it became clear to me that Zeno is putting this facade to be ill on himself to make himself the center of attention. Zeno is constantly trying to prove to the doctor (all the doctors he encounters throughout the three chapters we read) that he is ill. In "Smoke" when Zeno goes to the doctor for his smoking habit he also complains of having "difficulty in digesting and sleeping" after the doctor pronounced him being healthy (Svevo 14). The on the next page Zeno announces that he has an "unhappiness with women," (15). Throughout the book he is trying to prove to the reader that he is ill, but not in a psychological way. He seems to want the reader to interpret that he is sick not in the mental health aspect. My conclusion after reading the three excerpts is that he does have something wrong in the head and because this book is mostly written in his stream of consciousness the reader sees how even Zeno is not sure to what exactly is going on. He is searching for the innocence of infancy throughout the novel. It seems like he is pretending to have illnesses on top of this psychological one to make himself appear more innocent and childlike. I have this idea because in the preface Zeno states "I can't even begin to warn you, now living in your own infancy, how important it is to remember it," (6). He also brings up the word pure twice and I believe he is searching to find this purity throughout his life and that is why he is using this psychoanalysis method to help him return to his infancy. Because in the infancy of a child one is innocent and can make things up without consequences. If a child is "sick in the head" they aren't characterized as so they are just said to be acting like a child, so in an overarching way I think Zeno is trying to pass himself off as this little child.

Irony of Zeno's Father's Madness

            In Zeno’s Conscious, Italo Svevo expands on themes already touched on from previous texts analyzed in this course. These themes include the protagonist’s relationship with their father, and the contrast between consciousness and madness. Another theme that stands out in Svevo’s writing is the concept of the unusual. The best examples of the above themes are found in the “My Father’s Death” chapter.

            The protagonist, Zeno Cosini’s account of his father’s death is extremely ironic throughout. First, Zeno acknowledges the distant relationship the two had, yet he spends thirty pages describing in depth the slow process of his father’s death and his deteriorating mental state. For example, the doctor predicts that Zeno’s father, currently unconscious, will briefly retain his consciousness before death. Zeno ironically believes it to be torture for the doctor to attempt to bring his father back to consciousness.

            Zeno’s desire for his father to be mad is extremely ironic. His logic is completely reversed. He believes that he is providing his father with a sense of relief by allowing him to remain in his delirious state. However, Zeno’s father is clearly struggling greatly, as his deteriorating mental state takes a tremendous toll on his mind and body. Zeno’s father expresses the desire to go outside multiple times in the chapter, yet is prevented from doing so by the doctor, the orderly, and even Zeno after the doctor states that movement provides Zeno’s father with some relief. In their attempt to cure him, they are ironically accelerating his death.

            Lastly, in the beginning of the chapter, Zeno discusses the unusual and how the unusual is what defines the human experience. The highly unusual scene of Zeno’s father’s death is a perfect illustration of such. This very unique event shapes and determines the remainder of Zeno’s human experience.

Zeno’s Conscience Response

Although we have only read two sections of Zeno’s Conscience, Zeno reveals in these parts several of his character traits and his conclusions about his illness, which are quite interesting.  The overarching question that I had while reading these sections is, “why does Zeno have a need to be ‘cured?’” What is Zeno looking to attain by being cured? In the “Psychoanalysis” section, there is a possible response to these questions that is offered: Zeno’s illness is life itself.  There are tragedies and uncertainties in life, which cause people to worry and become depressed. However, there is no cure to life because it is an abstract illness that no doctor can diagnose. On page 416 it says, “real sickness was so simple: you just let it have its way. In fact, when I read in a medical volume the description of my sweet sickness, I discovered a kind of program of life (not death!) in its various stages.” Zeno was relieved when he had a physical illness because there was a concrete cure for his sickness.  Zeno’s illness can be interpreted as the struggle of life itself, for which there is no cure. 

Zeno's Conscience

            In Zeno’s Conscience: My Father’s Death, he mentions the loss of both parents but his father’s death is what destroyed him mentally.  I am unaware how it feels to lose a parent, let alone both, but I can imagine Zeno’s loneliness.  Zeno writes, “Until his death, I did not live for my father. I made no effort to be close to him … We were never so close or so long together as in my time of mourning.” (32).   Like the familiar saying “you do not know what you have until it is gone” is the realization Zeno experiences first hand.    Zeno, recognizing the end was near for his father sought to enjoy what little time remained.  Zeno’s experience in this chapter made me aware of the importance of not taking for granted time spent with family and loved ones.

            Death is the final stage of life and an inevitable reality.   One day we will all experience it.  I, on occasion, contemplate such finality, and though it is inescapable, it is difficult to fully comprehend.    Zeno says he also wonders about the mystery of death and that is all it can ever be, a mystery.  “…Who can say what may happen by tomorrow, or in half an hour’s time?” (51).  In other words, the future is unknown.  It is not worth our time to worry about what is to come but, rather, what is happening at this very moment.  Life is precious and should be appreciated.

During my childhood, at the age of six, my grandfather died suddenly of a heart attack.  I was too young at the time to fully understand death and its finality.      Being only six years old and having not lived near my grandfather I had not established a close bond with him; however it did not mean I did not love him.   He was still an important person in my life and it took a matter of time for me to realize what his passing meant and that I would never see him again.  Just as Zeno commends his father’s life, I, too, do the same.  I dedicate every swim race to him by pointing my index fingers towards the sky before stepping onto the blocks, knowing that he is watching.

Zeno's Consicence

In Italo Svevo's novel Zeno's Conscious, we learn about the fascinating story of a man who's psychiatrist has diagnosed him as having an Oedipus complex, and has published Zeno's memoir of out of spite for the patient suspending treatment. While reading the "Psychoanalysis" section of this novel, we are brought to question whether or not Zeno truly does have this complex or if his diagnosis was the product of a doctor's exaggeration. While Zeno mentions a couple of times the problem of "wanting to kill his father," his reflection of the time surrounding his father's death argues for the contrary. Zeno was very concerned with wanting his father's approval, and even though they did not get along very well while the old man was still alive, Zeno was grieved when his father did pass. Also, our title character's hatred for the doctor that was in attendance when his father passed away is a natural occurrence. It is hard for Zeno not to subconsciously blame the man who was supposed to save his father and failed, for the death. "Could anything be more wicked than recalling a sick man to consciousness, without the least hope of saving him, only to plunge him into despair, or expose him to the risk of having to undergo-amid what suffering!- the straitjacket?" Zeno's insistence on preventing his father from regaining consciousness can easily be explained as love rather than hatred. It was the love for his father that wanted to allow his father to live out his last moments in peace rather than in madness.

Response to Henry IV: Beauties Of Pirandello's Works

I

"I preferred to keep my madness. To live it out, fully aware of what I was doing.

That prank is a reality, the reality of a true madness!

Your trouble is being mad without knowing it!" (Henry IV)

Pirandello's portray of madman has a very overwhelming effect: the words of the madmen are so relatable that it touches an unstable side of us and challenge us to doubt our own sanity and reasonings. II

"Among the many misfortunes we women must suffer, are the gaze of two eyes promising eternal love. Such eyes made me laugh, especially then. And yet I’ll admit…I can’t after so many years, that then I laughed out of fear, because his eyes were very believable but dangerous. He was unlike the others. Besides I was too young then, and a woman. I would have needed more courage. And so I laughed at him too." (Henry IV)

From this monologue of Matilda, it explains why the world is such a cruel and incompatible world for Henry to dwell in. In the movie Enrico IV, his face of confusions of the sounding mocking laughters when he was whole-heartedly singing to his love Matilda really struck me of what a young man he was.

Reversibility in Henry IV

While Pirandello seems to commend the mad for their ability to speak the truth, madness in Henry IV also has an element of reversibility to it.  In Act II, Henry exclaims "How terrible it is, how terrible if you do not hold on very tight to what seems true to you today and to what will seem true to you tomorrow, even if it is the opposite of what seemed true to you yesterday" (122).  Henry criticizes the actors for hiding from truth, as he himself avoids reality.  By the end of the play, Henry's struggle amounts to nothing more than a grand attempt to avoid reality--the passage of time.  Pirandello introduces reversibility by making Henry untouchable in a way--he is not subject to time, which means he is not subject to reality.  Which is the more truthful? 

The Discussion of Madness in Henry IV

The question of reversibility lingers around through the whole play. Is Henry IV really insane or he is simply fooling everybody? Does Henry IV fall for Matilda or Matilda's daughter, Frida? In act II, Henry IV claimed emotionally that "Those people expect others to behave as they wish all the time" while ironically he is the one who expect others to behave the way he designed and wished them to all the time. This is another example of reversibility.

Other than the question of reversibility, I am very compelled to the description of madman that is mentioned and phrased in monologues of Henry IV when he swung back and forth between his "Henry IV state" and "normal state".

He announced at P127(for my book) that "but those others take advantage of this (miserable, feeble, uncertain minds) and make you accept their way of thinking" and "that's they way public opinion is formed". This claim really drew attention to me for that we all feel the need to change our own set of mind at times to better cater to the mainstream state of mind of the society, for the purpose of, ultimately, survival. From an evolutionary standpoint, as humans are social animals, the ability to social and fit in becomes crucial because those who know how to work with others usually have more access to various resources. Essentially because of how we can be fundamentally unique and different, being able to adapt ourselves to the society and at the same time, stay sane, somewhat makes us all "heroes", which is defined as somebody who recognizes the cruel nature of the reality of life but creates a imaginative second world for his soul to dwell in, in Emily Becker's The Denial of Death. In the text, Henry IV refers to the general public as "those others" and each individual as "you", who needs to take in information about how to think in ways that benefit the general society to obtain resources the society owns.

I also found it fascinating when Henry IV said at P128 "do you know what it means to find yourselves face to face with a madman--with one who shakes the foundations of all you have built up in yourselves, your logic, the logic of constructions". For madman, they are the ones that "construct without logic, or rather with a logic that flies like a feather". In Emily Becker's The Denial of Death, she defined the neurotic as those who are "unable to maintain the "lies" needed to remain normal, have created dreams, fantasies and other escape mechanisms to protect themselves from the threat of reality, which would other wise destroy them". They are even closer to the bare truth, for there are no constructions needed in their mental world, while in any sane person's world a certain extent of lies are essential so that the mental construction does not simply collapse. The “just world” would be a very good example in this case, the ideology that doing good would be awarded while doing evil would be punished eventually. We tend to set this ideology as the default setting of our belief system and wishfully think that the world will somehow work the way as we expect it to.

Even though psychology has tried to define disorders as mental states that make us malfunction, the line drawn between sane and insane is very vague and can never be, in my opinion, generalized into a scale or principle.

Henry IV is one of Pirandello’s works. What struck me the most was Henry IV’s quote during the second Act that discusses his ideas about a madman.  “I again appear to be mad! And, by God, you know it! You believed me! You believed all along that I was mad! Didn’t you? You see? This fear of yours?” (150).  We, as a society, fear those who appear to be eccentric because they differ from what society deems normal.  Control of individuals is apparent based on societal norms, keeping them in check.  Our everyday lives are influenced by current trends and values within society, determining what we eat, what we wear, how we act, and what we believe.  It even differentiates between right and wrong.  Throughout our primary and secondary levels of education, we as a society are taught to believe everything to be true.  As college students we are now asked to expand our horizons and question what those in authority are presenting; easier said than done.  This discord is evident beyond the classroom.    When someone strays from the norm implemented within a society, they attract negative attention from others.  This behavior, of going against the grain, often results in neglect and isolation. 

            Pirandello’s plays Henry IV and Six Characters in Search of an Author share a similar theme of identity.   Pirandello writes “You must hold with all your might to what seems true today, and with all your might to what will seem true to you tomorrow, even if it’s the opposite of what you thought was true yesterday” (150). Our realities are ever changing.  In the past one may have been weak whereas today they are strong, but who knows what the future will hold.  We believe to be the same individual throughout but are constantly molded and shaped by life experiences, both that of truths or fabrications.  To maintain our identities we need to find what we believe is true and hold on to it.  

Reversibility

Note - I do have a different version from everyone else in the class so the adaption is a bit different.

"None of us lies or pretends what happens is, in all sincerity, we inhabit the self we have chosen for ourselves, and don't let go," (Pirandello, 27).

At this point in the play, all the characters have been introduced and they have discussed who they are and what the problem is, which is that Henry IV fell off his horse and does not know who he is anymore. His wife Matilda and daughter Frida have entered the scene along with a doctor to determine if Henry is a madman. The quote above that I have chosen, I believe to be one of the many explanations throughout the play to talk about madness and insanity.

The first phrase, "none of us lies or pretends, what happens is, in all sincerity" is speaking to the fact that Henry for the past eight years has known he is not mad, but in fact he does remember who he is. He is just choosing to be insane and give off the appearance of a mad man. Therefore, this phrase alone suggest that a mad man does not exist. To always speak the truth and act out the truth means that there is no room for madness because if there is madness there are lies and pretending. He is playing a "fixed" game under his control. Now this becomes a contradictory statement because Henry is lying and pretending to his servants, the doctor, his wife and daughter. So, the question becomes since he is aware of his lying and pretending is he still sane? I would argue that he is because he is obviously coherent enough to do this and play this game.

However, looking and the next phrase in this excerpt the wheels in our minds begin to turn. Henry states, "we inhabit the self we have chosen for ourselves, and don't let go." The key three words in this are "don't let go." Now, it begins to get interesting. Henry is arguing that he is sane and the first half of the phrase does prove that, but when you finish reading this phrase that idea is turned upside down. If Henry is saying "we inhabit the self we have chosen for ourselves" that means that he has inhabited the mad man he has chosen to pretend that he is to his peers. Meaning, he is not sane. And the last three words of "don't let go" prove this notion. Henry is holding on so tight to pretend that he is mad to his court that he eventually becomes mad because he can't let go. By the end of the play the reader/audience is left questioning whether or not a madman does exist. After examining this one sentence it can be argued that once you are mad there is no going back. There is no such thing as madness not existing.

Henry IV Response to a Passage

"We've reached a conclusion, you see; we, now, are the crazy ones!" (143)

This quote is spoken by Belcredi after one of Henry's long monologues, and we now know that Henry has been acting as a madman this whole time. Belcredi calls our attention to the most complex issue of the play, which is real v. madness. I do not know if the actors are really the ones that are mad, however.  Yes, they choose to exist in a madman's world and play their parts, but they choose to live this way.  Similarly, I do not necessarily think that Henry is mad either because he acknowledges his choice in playing a madman's role.  To be a madman, one must not comprehend the existence of the choice. I think that this play is ironic in the sense that the reader is convinced that each character, at one point or another, could potentially be mad. However, none of the characters truly are mad.  Perhaps instead, they play these roles to escape an unsatisfying reality. The reason for their behaviors is unknown, but ultimately it is not insanity.