Comforming to the communist revolution in Milan Kundera's Life is Elsewhere
...epressed. This is precisely what has occurred in Jaromil’s life--he has dreamed so long, that he actually believes that he and Xavier are one being in essence. However, this mentality could not be farther from the truth. Xavier will only cause Jaromil great pain because Jaromil’s dream of becoming Xavier is impossible. Therefore, Xavier has been fooling Jaromil all along and is truly his enemy. Another comical, yet tragical, character in the novel is Jaromil’s mother who practically follows Jaromil everywhere. There is a reason for her intense attraction and love for Jaromil. The main reason for her unusual protection and relationship with Jaromil is because her husband never loved her. When Jaromil’s mother comes to the conclusion that her own husband does not even love her, she responds by turning all of her love and devotion towards Jaromil. Jaromil’s mother absolutely has good intentions regarding her love for Jaromil, but at the same time Jaromil is extremely hurt by this overprotection in his adolescence. Jaromil’s mother sees a sculpture of Apollo when Jaromil is a baby and she instantly has the idea that she will mold Jaromil into Apollo. So Jaromil grows up as a “mama’s boy,” and this part of the novel is very comical because everybody has either seen or been a “mama’s boy.” Most people even enjoy picking on the “mama’s boys” just as Jaromil’s peers enjoy poking fun at him. However, for Jaromil this is not very fun at all--he knows that his mother is to blame for this. Jaromil grows up as very sheltered boy; therefore, he is always a couple years behind all his other peers. To make things worse, he also skipped a grade, and so he was always a year or even more behind all his peers in appearance as well. All of this added up as stress for Jaromil in his teenage years because he wanted to be on the same level as his classmates, and his mother never allowed this to happen. Jaromil always felt and knew that he was not equal with his peers and this caused him great pain. Kundera uses this to deeply explore the psychological tendencies of humans when they feel that they do not fit in. Kundera shows how much suffering humans bring upon themselves simply because they feel they do not fit it. This thought is comical, yet tragical at the same time because watching someone experience this adolescent pain is amusing while it is self-destructing for the person. Jaromil’s low view of himself makes him desperate to do anything that will help him blend in with society. Jaromil feels he must conform to his classmates in order to be accepted, and this is tragically true in the communist world. Once Jaromil finds a girl he gets really involved with, he falls into deep love with her. Jaromil only believes the love of the revolution brings complete freedom. Jaromil puts a lot of pressure on his girlfriend because he is very possessive of her, and he wants to maintain a tight hold on her. Jaromil’s low view of himself becomes a great obstacle in his relationship with her because he is extremely jealous. Jaromil does not even want his girlfriend to be in the presence of other men. Again Kundera amuses the reader by providing another example that most people can relate with. Most people can recall being jealous from time to time; however, Kundera soon turns this jealously into tragedy. Once his girlfriend is late for a date, and Jaromil goes into a roaring rage. Jaromil lashes out at his girlfriend and claims that she does not love him because she is late. The irony is that she is late because she loves him more than another man she is involved with at the same time. His girlfriend ends up making up a story that her brother is anti-communist. Jaromil is so faithful to the revolution that he foolishly turns her brother into the police. In turn, the police end up sending his girlfriend to jail. Jaromil’s jealously and conformism costs him the only thing he held dearly, his girlfriend. Jaromil develops a form of pride that causes him to become paranoid. Anytime Jaromil meets someone new he is always thinking of something that might be wrong with his appearance, hence making him appear as a fool. It is a common human reaction to want to look normal and natural around other peers, but Jaromil reacts with great fear that is not normal. Jaromil is so paranoid that he is afraid to wear the underwear his mom gives him. Jaromil believes that if anyone sees the underwear, then they will hate him. Jaromil is afraid to express his own feelings because he fears he will sound like a fool. So whenever Jaromil enters a discussion he simply repeats everything that the painter has taught him. Jaromil believes that if he repeats everything the painter says then he will impress everybody. Jaromil’s low self-esteem and pride end up costing him his life. Jaromil is at a party and is humiliated ...