Hey, I feel that these quotations from The Unbearable Lightness of Being are important to the theme of identity regarding the body and the soul.
It would be senseless for the author to try to convince the reader that his characters once actually lived. They were not born of a mother's womb; they were born of a stimulating phrase or two or from a basic situation. Tomas was born of the saying "Einmal is keinmal." Tereza was born of the rumbling of a stomach. (2.1.1)
And so the man who called to her was simultaneously a stranger and a member of the secret brotherhood. He called to her in a kind voice, and Tereza felt her soul rushing up to the surface through her blood vessels and pores to show itself to him. (2.8.6)
But then it occurred to her that she was actually being sent to him by Tomas. Hadn't he told her time and again that love and sexuality had nothing in common? Well, she was merely testing his words, confirming them. She could almost hear him say, "I understand you. I know what you want. I've taken care of everything. You'll see when you get up there." (4.15.4)
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I think these are really good quotes, Ross. Here are some more that I found on the body and soul.
She had come to him to make her body unique, irreplaceable. But he ,too, had drawn an equal sign between her and the rest of ten: he kissed them all alike, stroked them all alike, made no, absolutely no distinction between them." p. 58
"For it was Tomas' voice that had once coaxed forth her timorous soul from its hiding place in her bowels" pg. 55
"They're the same." p. 69
This last quote is when Tereza is referring to the pictures of another photographer in Switzerland that showed figures of people on a nude beach. Just like communism where everyone becomes subject to an oppressive government, Tereza hates the fact that all bodies "are the same." Politics, the body, and sexuality are all interconnected.
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