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Many of POB's short stories deal symbolically with the journey of the soul after death, and with judgment of that soul, as if it is constantly searching for that self-judgment.
This soul has reached hell, wch appears in the guise of a nursing home or lunatic asylum. What we learn is from overhearing the discussion of two women--nurses, perhaps, fiends, certainly. One is described with a "dead-white transparent skin, flushed so that the redness could be seen..."
The soul has been "treated" or mocked, by "old Prince," clearly the Prince of Darkness.
The treatment consists of a partial, twisted confession, and we can note that the tormented soul *writes* it all down. "He says it is all part of the same thing, and you bring it on yourself...and then he writes it all down." [And we read it.]
Consider what happens a few paragraphs before the end of the story. The soul has gone upstairs to his room. Then above the nurses, "The inhuman cry swelled to an enormous volume and after an instant's silence a furious trampli ng shook the ceiling of the room [and]...the hellish din continued overhead."
"Yes," says one of the nurses (or whatever they are) "the young devils must be teasing him. Old Prince said he might give them leave."
The story is full of such hints, and more than hints, about what's going on. And, sadly, about halfway through there's a reference to "the monstrous births"...that are created by sins. "It comes to this: each of these acts adds another to those things that live in Hell--creates it. It creates a new fiend."
To return to the end of the story, when the noise overhead quiets down, the two nurses rush up stairs, full of glee, "and we'll make him say who created *us.*"
Charlezzzz, thinking that suicide (becoming a Voluntary Patient in this madhouse) is not an atonement--not in this sadly-written story.
The patient insists that he admitted himself. This goes along with the theology of the major Christian sects -the Catholics, the Anglicans, and so on- that says that Hell is a place we go to because we want to go there. I recommend C. S. Lewis' ( an Anglican) allegory, "The Great Divorce". In this haunting fable, the author finds himself in an enormous, shoddy, depressing city. He comes upon a group of people who are waiting for a bus. He joins the queue, which is made up of all kinds of people, mostly unpleasant, some violent, some pathetic. As it turns out, the bus is leaving for heaven. He goes along. The upshot is that the inhabitants of the city - undoubtedly Hell- are given every chance to leave. Some are able to face up to their past sins and put them behind them, but, sadly, most find it impossible to embrace joy, and go back on the next bus. Charlezzzz writes that the Voluntary Patient is a suicide. I don't think that that is necessarily so from a main-stream Christian point of view, which would make everybody who ends up in Hell a "voluntary patient."
He also writes:
"And, sadly, about halfway through there's a reference to "the monstrous births"...that are created by sins. "It comes to this: each of these acts adds another to those things that live in Hell ---creates it. It creates a new fiend." Does Charlezzzz feel that there is a personal reference here, rather than just a reference to the monstrous creatures that old artists, like the painter of "The Last Judgement" at Albi, created? Or like those of Michaelangelo in the Sistine Chapel's Last Judgement?
It is also interesting that the major Christian sects, including those named above, have said that Hell is an intellectual state - the voluntary withdrawal from God - rather than the place of fire and brimstone of the "Fundamentalists." (One of the nurses in the story says : "What was it?" she asked, as the door opened again. "Oh, nothing. Only the brimstone going out.")
Jean A. ( Willing to be corrected.)
See also Robin Williams' much underrated movie "What Dreams May Come" about self-imposed (and self-designed) Heavens and Hells.
Dusty wondering if any Fijiians hold with the olde tyme relijun
From: Charlezzzz@AOL.COM
Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2000 10:10 AM
In a message dated 8/3/0 10:49:12 AM, Sherkin@AOL.COM writes:
Does Charlezzzz feel that there is a personal reference here, rather than just a reference to the monstrous creatures that old artists, like the painter of "The Last Judgement" at Albi, created?
Many of these short stories of POB are full of personal references, and are partly written (and get their strength) from his own deepest feelings--written to heal some of those feelings. Think of Edmund Wilson's book, "The Wound and the Bow," about the myth of Philoctetes who had arrows that never missed but was marooned by his fellow Greeks on the way to Troy because he also had a wound that stunk so bad nobody cd stand him.
Wilson puts the artist into this myth: it's the presence of a wound that permits the artist to have such a bow. I think that this is *sometimes* true. I dare say it's true for these short stories.
Charlezzzz
Jean A The patient insists that he admitted himself. This goes along with the
theology of the major Christian sects - the Catholics, the Anglicans, and so
on- that says that Hell is a place we go to because we want to go there.
I think this is a continuation or repetition of the idea expressed in "The
Virtuous Peleg:" When Kevin UNDER PRESSURE blasphemed until even the devils
stretched their eyes, the oldest hob-devil said to the Captain secretrly behind
his hand like a man at a fair, "It's all very well, but we shan't have his soul
for certain like this: he must be damned of his own will, you know." In "The
Voluntary Patient," we are told at the very beginning, and even in the title,
that this man is here voluntarily, of his own will.
I also find it interesting that the idea of "accidie"
comes up yet again in "The Voluntary Patient:" Mr.
Philips is fun to torture, but: "On the accidie side
they are a dull, mumchance, pompous lot, all puffed up
with their own importance." Mr. Philips at least is
showing some spunk, some challenge to the system. He's
going to go down hard.
- Susan
In a message dated 8/3/2000 11:47:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
Sherkin@AOL.COM writes:
It is also interesting that the major Christian sects, including those
named above, have said that Hell is an intellectual state - the voluntary withdrawal
from God - rather than the place of fire and brimstone of the "Fundamentalists."
(One of the nurses in the story says : "What was it?" she asked, as the door
opened again. "Oh, nothing. Only the brimstone going out.")
Though I haven't read the O'Brian story, I've read Lewis's fascinating *Great
Divorce*; and from the discussion of the POB story, the parallels Jean draws
seem both apropos and interesting. I'm going to have to breakdown and get a
hold of a copy of these stories, I can see that.
Just two minor quibbles: first, the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches are
not "sects"; they are denominations which are, of course, part of historic,
mainstream Christianity; a [Christian] sect is a group which deviates,
usually in some pretty fundamental ways, from the teachings of traditional
"mere" Christianity. Second: I'm don't think that the Anglican or Catholic
churches would describe hell as an "intellectual" state ("intellectual" and
"spiritual" not being the same thing, though overlapping); but these churches
(and virtually all biblically based churches) would certainly see hell's
basic characteristic as total and irrevocable (human initiated) separation
from God.
Marian
In Dean King's "biography" of Patrick O'Brian, he quotes
from a review of "The Voluntary Patient" by William
Dunlea in the September 23 1955 issue of "Commonweal:"
"a smart fantasy-satire of auto-suggestive
psychotherapy."
King seems to delight in dredging up every negative
comment anyone has made about POB and then not exactly
agreeing with it. He notes that Dunlea dismissed the
collection "Patient" appeared in, "The Walker and Other
Stories:" as: "the human element here is the crucial
deficiency, being saturated in a battery of secretive
nature symbols. . . What [O'Brian] lacks is sensibility."
King says about this: "Dunlea was perhaps not entirely
off base, but his criticism is ironic in retrospect,
given that it is the humanity of O'Brian's writing, and
his deeply nuanced sensibility, that would one day
elevate his sea novels to supreme acclaim."
- Susan
In a message dated 8/18/2000 2:55:26 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
susanwenger@YAHOO.COM writes:
King says about this: "Dunlea was perhaps not entirely off base, but his
criticism is ironic in retrospect, given that it is the humanity of O'Brian's
writing, and his deeply nuanced sensibility, that would one day elevate his
sea novels to supreme acclaim."
I like that sentence. Well put.
David aloft and alow
From: Marian Van Til
Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2000 6:03 PM
From: Susan Wenger
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2000 2:54 PM
From: David Goldblatt
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2000 3:47 PM
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