From Death to Kitsch to Oblivion

In class we spent a good deal of time discussing “paradise” in the The Unbearable Lightness of Being.  One quote we didn’t bring up is:

“The inscription he chose to go under his father’s [Tomas’s] name on the gravestone read: HE WANTED THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH.  […T]he kingdom of God means justice.  Tomas had longed for a world in which justice would reign” (Kundera 276).

And this quote relates back to what we were also saying about kitsch.  Here’s a quote we DID get to bring up in class:

“Before we are forgotten, we will be turned in kitsch.  Kitsch is the stopover between being and oblivion” (Kundera 278).

Can we honestly say that what Tomas desired, above all, was justice?  No, not in my opinion.  He didn’t even execute justice in his personal life with Tereza.  Otherwise he would have maybe been a nice, decent human being and not had affairs with other women, when he knew how deeply it wounded her.  So basically, the second quote accurately relates to Tomas.  It also relates to Robespierre:

“If the French Revolution were to recur eternally, French historians would be less proud of Robespierre” (4).

While death seems heavy (and it is a heavy subject to talk about), Kundera really describes it as introducing lightness into our lives.  After death, people forget about who we really are.  Even the executions of hundreds and hundreds of people can be overlooked when we’re talking about history.