Journal of Jessore University of Science and Technology ISSN: 2521-5493

Vol. 02 No. 01, December 2017

CONCEPT OF GUILT AS EXPOSED IN MILAN KUNDERA’S THE

UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING AND WILLIAM GIBSON’S
NEUROMANCER
Md. Al Walid1*, Md. Abdul Halim1, Tanmoy Mazumder1 and Dinalo Chakma
1
Department of English, Jessore University of Science and Technology
Jessore 7408, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT
The sense of guilt is a hegemonic, discursive construct manufactured by powerful discourses- society,
religion, laws and family- to control and detour the free spirit of youth. It is much related to discourse
rather than to criminality or wrongdoing. This paper critically studies how and why the concept of
guilt is produced, how it monitors and directs youth individuals, how it changes in course of time,
how and why it varies from place to place, and why it is fluid. It offers a critical reading of The
Unbearable Lightness of Being and Neuromancer to explore how guilt operates and impacts human
and posthuman space. Finally the study finds that „guilt‟ controls the characters of the texts studied.
Keywords: Guilt Management, Discursive Formation, Psychoanalysis, Human and Posthuman Space.

INTRODUCTION On the other hand, in Neuromancer, we are

Oxford dictionary defines „guilt‟ as „the
unhappy feelings caused by knowing or
thinking that you have done something
wrong‟ and „the fact that somebody has done
something illegal.‟7 It indicates that it is a
perception we form from our daily
experiences in the society. We learn to feel
guilty through society, religion, laws and
family. But if we think otherwise that actually
we are taught to feel guilty through these, the
entire scenario would be thought provoking
because it makes the term „guilt‟ as discursive
what implies that „society, religion, laws‟
establish the idea of guilt for their own sake.
In The Unbearable Lightness of Being, we
find how society and religion manipulate to
make one feel guilty and how family matters
in all the characters especially in Tereza.
*Author for correspondence;
E-mail: md.alwalid@gmail.com
introduced with a society where only „cyborg‟
identity prevails. In that society, there is no
direct inclination to family or religion. What is
the picture of „guilt‟ in that society? Does it
exist? If not, why? In this way the paper
attempts to critically analyze that „guilt‟ is not a
so innocent idea as it seems. It has been
„produced‟. Research on „Guilt‟ is less touched
but the concept plays an important role from
the ancient time to the present in our life what,
is reflected in literary texts of different eras.
The concept may change with time. It has
connection with the mode of power structure,
ideology, and youth of the society very closely
that cannot be ignored. As scientific inventions
change human life radically, so, what might
happen in post human world in near future---

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 J JUST Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2017
can also be studied to understand the probable
subsequent changes. Therefore, more
investigation is needed into this issue to feel, to
show, and to draw the futuristic shape of
„guilt‟.
METHODOLOGY
This paper is mainly an analytical endeavour. It
aims to analyze and re-configure the
theorization and perception of guilt using
qualitative method. This method allows varied
scope of flexible interpretation, discussion, and
establishment of pertinent suggestions with a
critical insight into human attitude and socio-
cultural constructions. The paper is also an
extensive form of library research drawing
much from numerous online resources. It is
going to cover discourse analysis, correlational
research and evaluative research as well. The
paper reads two phenomenal novels in the light
of Psychoanalysis. The argument is developed
through three core sections. The first one
provides different and differing
conceptualization of guilt. The next section
includes critical analysis of the operation of
guilt in two novels: The Unbearable Lightness
of Being by Milan Kundera and Neuromancer
by William Gibson. The final section
demonstrates how guilt manipulates the free
spirit of individuals and attempts to detour
rebelliousness and innovation.
Conceptualizing Guilt
For centuries, idea of „guilt‟ has been reflected
in many literary works. Religion, laws, societal
customs have always been powerful forces in
instigating guilt in human psychology.
Typically „guilt‟ is regarded as an emotion.‟1
However, emotions are originally fleeting and
short-lived, while some forms of guilt can last
for a lifetime. The few considerations here
made on guilt should suffice to reflect the civic
importance of guilt. If in a society which
members are incapable of feeling guilty, they
103
are problematic. On the other hand, in a society
which members feel constantly feel guilty for
their actions, is ultimately repressive.
Guilt Management
In this paper, Guilt Management is the process
how the people of society get tackled by guilt
in life but actually cannot come out of the
circle of it and always roam into it. This eternal
quagmire and ignorance prove that actually
what we feel about guilt is not mostly in our
hands though most of us think so. Actually it is
not like that. It is the societal constructs that
determine how the people feel it. In guilt
management, how guilt is related with
discourse, hegemony, politics, religion, laws,
and parents has been discussed. Here, besides
these dealings, the obvious change of the sense
has been critically interpreted and attempted to
outline the futuristic shape of guilt.
The Operation of Guilt
This section critically discusses the operations
of guilt through the characters of select novels
and their roaming into it and attempts to
transgress it in the light of psychoanalysis,
religion, laws, and societal customs. The
chapter is divided into two sections. The first
section formulates, demonstrates, and suggests
the dealings with guilt through the characters
of The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
Similarly the next section is concerned with
Neuromancer.
Guilt in Kundera’s The Unberable Lightness
of Being
Kundera‟s novel delves into the psychosis of
the major characters and brings out the core
essence of their psychological vulnerability.
All the characters somehow fall prey to their
operational „libido‟ and simultaneously, cannot
go beyond the „guilt system‟. Tereza‟s frequent
nightmares are possibly the outcome of long,
subdued and internalized emotions which in
turn have turned into an inseparable part of her
 J JUST Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2017
conjugal life. Her synchronic obsession with
her bodily attributes or guilt, we can possibly
term it, has a huge effect on what she is now.
Her personality or ego formation according to
psychoanalysis has a deep connection with her
childhood experiences when her sense of
„secrecy and female body‟ was put into
„danger‟. The normative social practices do not
allow a girl to showcase her sexuality/desire,
or even her body during adolescence. Tereza,
on the contrary was subjected to the exposure
of her private body parts due to her repressive
mother (the substitution of the repressive
„father figure‟), even in front of her step-father.
All these „dysfunctional‟, physical family
practices, needless to say, are „unconventional‟
or go against the normative praxis. As a result,
Tereza becomes the ultimate victim of „guilt‟,
guilt of breaking of what is „normal‟, guilt of
being exposed which one is not supposed to be
at that age and that too by her family members.
This instills in her mind a deep sense of
insecurity towards societal establishments
which later formulated her whole love/married
life. As Kundera narrates in his novel:
At home, there was no such thing as
shame. Her mother marched about the
flat in her underwear, sometimes braless
and sometimes, on summer days, stark
naked. Her stepfather did not walk about
naked, but he did go into the bathroom
every time Tereza was in the bath. Once
she locked herself in and her mother was
furious. Who do you think you are,
anyway? Do you think he‟s going to bite
off a piece of your beauty? This
confrontation shows clearly that hatred
for her daughter outweighed suspicion of
her husband. Her daughter‟s guilt was
infinite and included the husband‟s
Infidelities. Tereza‟s desire to be
emancipated and insist on her rights- like
the right to lock herself in the bathroom-
was more objectionable to Tereza‟s
mother than the possibility of
104
her husband‟s taking a prurient interest
in Tereza.2
Referring to psychoanalysis, Freud points out
how our „unconscious‟ state of mind has a
huge influence on our actions in the later part
of our life. He linked the unresolved conflicts,
unadmitted desires or traumatic past events of
an individual with the „unconscious‟ mind
where there is less scope of the flow of
expression in „conscious‟ state of mind. The
suppressed feelings find its ways through
different channels, I.e. dream. As Barry in his
book Beginning Theory proposes:
An example of important Freudian
terminology is the “dream work”, the
process by which real events or desires
are transformed into dream images.
These include: displacement , whereby
one person or event is represented by
another which in some way linked or
associated with it, perhaps because of a
similar sounding word, or by some form
of symbolic substitution; and
condensation, whereby a number of
people, events, or meanings are
combined and represented by a single
image in them. (p. 94)3
Tereza was extremely disturbed for his
husband‟s infidelity and his secret liaisons with
several women stirs up her earlier experiences
of distrust and insecurity. Her „guilt‟ of being
unable to connect with her dear ones again
comes back to her. She feels guilt for her
inability to meet up the expectations of her
husband. As a result, her guilt and internalized
fear are re-channeled through her „dream-
work‟ where she is subjugated to insult and
suppression.
We find from the following lines of Kundera:
Her dreams recurred like themes and
variations or television series. For
example, she repeatedly dreamed of cats
jumping at her face and digging their
 J JUST Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2017
claws into her skin. We need not look far
for an interpretation: in Czech slang the
word cat means a pretty woman. Tereza
saw herself threatened by women, all
women. All women were potential
mistresses for Tomas, and she feared them
all.2
During a celebration of promotion to
photographer, Tereza dances with other men in
front of Tomas, her husband. He becomes
jealous. He understands how Tereza feels about
his infidelities. He finds him guilty at this point.
In part two, Tereza begins to take nude photos
of Sabina, one of the mistresses of Tomas.
Sabina laughs at first, then gets some wine, and
changes into a robe. She soon throws it open,
exposing herself to Tereza. While there is a
palpable tension between the two women,
they‟re frightened by the proximity of their
shared secret lives. The session ends, as they
both awkwardly laugh. In art, there is no
boundary. The two women did not feel guilty
seeing each other nude because it was for the
sake of art and nudity is not prohibited in art.
Therefore, we can say, those who have high
sense of art, lack the sense of guilt because of
freedom of thought.
Franz, like Tomas had rules regarding his love
life. He would not go from Sabina‟s bed to his
wife‟s bed within the same day. He also does
not want to have sex with Sabina in Geneva.
Franz creates speaking engagements and
inventes other reasons to travel and takes Sabina
with him. When Sabina tells Franz that she does
not want to go to Palermo, he takes it to mean
that she no longer desires him sexually.
Although Franz is a good looking, strong,
scholarly man, he is internally weak and
insecure. Sabina is the initiator in their
relationship. She takes the lead in their sexual
liaisons. All these are beyond the boundary of
any established circumstances. So, the most
solemn character in this novel, Franz also lacks
sense of guilt as he is in extra-marital
relationship which is against societal rule.
105
Franz explains to Sabina his love for his mother,
because he believes this will show the strength
of his fidelity, and she will admire it. However,
Sabina is more intrigued by betrayal. Fidelity, to
Sabina, reminds her of her small town and her
father. Her father, as Kundera tells us, is a
puritan, who chases away the boys in her life.
He makes fun of Picasso, who Sabina decides to
love out of rebellion. Kundera explains that she
marries a second-rate actor. He also relates that
she feels stifled, because the Academy of Fine
Art does not allow Sabina to paint like Picasso.
Sabina flashes back to when she receives a letter
that her mother has died, and she feels guilty for
betraying her family. Betrayal can produce the
sense of guilt to a person like Sabina and in
Tomas as we find earlier.
For Tereza, flirting is a heavy and significant
act. It lacks the lightness and playfulness that
some women innately enjoy. When Tereza flirts,
it gives an air of possibility to an illicit
relationship. After an encounter with a bald
man, a tall man comes to her defense and in the
following night, he and Tereza flirt with each
other but she feels vulnerable. She is unable to
accept it and this feeling originates from guilt.
She finds betrayal very heavy and she cannot
bear its weight. As a result, Tereza feels the flat
of the man without having sex.
Tomas continues his extra-marital relationship
after his return to Prague while he would do his
job. He experiences a woman looked “like an
odd combination of giraffe, stork and sensitive
young boy.”2 They flirt with each other to the
point where Tomas is touching her, and she
withdraws telling him to come back another day
to “finish what I kept you from starting.”2
Tomas returns, and as they engaged in
lovemaking, he orders her to strip as he always
used to do with his women. She refuses and tells
him to strip. During their sexual encounter, he
experiences her in a completely new way that no
other woman has done before. Her physical
being is so different from other women that
Tomas is enthralled at having conquered one
more woman he has not had before. We observe
 J JUST Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2017
that both of them transgress their social
boundary and lack the sense of guilt, and that is
why, they enjoy their life and Tomas invents
something new.
Tomas finally changes and all of a sudden
encounters a girl that he made love in a
tremendous storm. The girl remembers the
scene and recounts how beautiful it was but he
fails to remember the storm. He only realizes
and recollects the sexual act with women, not
the story that went with it. In this way, he lacks
emotional attachments and loses the aesthetic
pleasure of those moments. He realizes that
Tereza still occupies the poetic memory that
retain the moments he is unable to capture with
other women. In this way, his spirit almost
comes to an end. Tereza finally transgresses all
social boundaries and analyzes her love for
Karenin versus the love in human relationships.
She realized that her love for Karenin (their
family dog) versus the love in human
relationships. She assumes that her love for
Karenin, and Karenin‟s love for her, is perfect,
selfless love. So, finally, the sense of guilt
becomes blurred as she goes beyond all societal
constructs.
Guilt in Gibson’s Neuromancer
Neuromancer by William Gibson has
introduced us with posthuman characters. The
term cyberspace was coined by Gibson for the
first time. In the world of cyberspace, survival is
the ultimate fact by any means. There is no
chain of order here. Transgression of the
boundary is the nature of this world.
Case transgresses all social order. The treatment
of Case in the text:
A thief, he‟d worked for other, wealthier
thieves, employers who provided the
exotic software required to penetrate the
bright walls of corporate systems, opening
windows into rich fields of data.4
Again we have found, “He stole from his
employers.”4
106
As Tyson in his book of Critical Theory Today
says,
Crisis brings into the spotlight wounds,
fears, guilty desires, or unresolved
conflicts that I have failed to deal with and
that demand action. I am flooded by the
past because I can now see what was
really going on. This is how I can know
myself through crisis. Trauma is also used,
of course, to refer to a painful experience
that scars us psychologically.5
We observe that Case, a talented computer
hacker is having jagged days. Then he gets
caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie
jar, and his employers make it so that he would
never be able to hack a computer again. His
psychic trauma of being inactive is reactivated
through the opportunity what pacifies his scars
psychologically. He knows himself so well in
his days of crisis and uses his second
opportunity in the cyber world effectively.
In this postmodern age, survival has become the
ultimate motto of life. How illegal matters have
been normalized in the text, we can watch from
the lines
In Japan, he‟d known with a clenched and
absolute certainty, he'd find his cure. In
Chiba, Either in a registered clinic or in
the shadow land of black medicine.
Synonymous with implants, nerve
splicing, and microbionics, Chiba was a
magnet for the Sprawl‟s techno-criminal
subcultures.4
Therefore we may presume that in Chiba City,
Japan; body transplantation has become a
common phenomenon which is contradictory to
any social law. To make it worse, his girlfriend
has just stolen a bunch of RAM, he had planned
to fence on the black market which also
contradicts the custom of society.
So when a mysterious character named
Armitage offers him a job as a console cowboy
on retainer and a chance to hack again, Case
decides that is pretty peachy in comparison with
 J JUST Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2017
the alternative one. He teams up with a street
samurai named Molly, with whom he strikes up
a relationship. Molly is present with Case
during the operation of hacking when she needs
to be with him. Finally, she leaves Case which
is odd to the convention of society. In a society
where the sense of guilt exists, this cannot be
imagined. Riviera betrays the group at a stage
what is a surprise and it again proves the vague
sense of guilt to cyber, postmodern world.
Molly accidently runs into John Ashpool and is
forced to kill him before being captured by
Riviera and Hideo, 3Jane‟s ninja bodyguard.
There is no part of regret or guilt for this killing.
There is no emotion here. The foundation of
guilt derives from emotion. So no guilt exists in
cyberspace.
Evaluation
Postmodern era is marked by a trend of de-
constructing the established norms through
various strategies, eg. blurring the sense of guilt.
The unbearable lightness of being is one of the
legitimate offspring of the vibe. Tomas and
Sabina possess the real spirit of youths. Their
ideas are very clear about what they are doing.
There is no pretension in them. Love and love
making are quite different phenomena to
Tomas. Traditionally, this kind of character is
considered as lecherous but the representation of
Tomas by Kundera has just introduced us to a
new dimension in literature and spread out a
new dimension of thought. Tereza and Franz are
different from Tomas. They like to follow the
certain norms of society. But the matter of the
relationship between Tomas and Tereza, and
Franz and Sabina did happen in a way what was
not valid in the norms of society. So, the sense
of guilt here is not so much influential as it is
found earlier. The characters are not feeling that
much guilty. The advancement of technology
and all other related factors have worked as a
catalyst in this issue. The change has become
obvious.
Finally, Neuromancer does not give any space
for religion, law, and societal norms in it.
107
Survival of posthuman characters by any means
has become the aim of life. There is no
beginning of life and consequently no end. That
is why the sense of guilt is completely absent in
this era. There is no social order in this society.
Employees hack the employers‟ information.
The corporate system is becoming weakened
here through the uprising of labor class
represented by Case and Molly.
CONCLUSION
All these incidents of these novels propagate
that guilt is not a stable idea. Male-female
binary oppositions also play important role in
this regard. Women feel guiltier than men.
There is no universal idea of guilt. We are
taught to feel guilty through religion, laws,
parents and other social institutions. The politics
behind the operation are not wholly
comprehensible, therefore, our ideology become
politicized through the polarization of ethical
values. The societal constructs paved the way of
feeling guilty without doing any criminality or
wrongdoing. The maltreatment to Tereza by her
family members even by her mother and step
father is negated by society. In this way, „guilt‟
controls our roam into „the sense of guilt‟ and
makes life unhappy and monotonous.
Future cannot be illustrated but anticipated from
the present. The way human civilizations
directing
towards a „cyborg‟ world because of our needs
might become true years later like the incidents
of Neuromancer. The conventional operation of
„guilt‟ might not be valid anymore. If human
beings can come out of the cocoon of „guilt‟ by
de-constructing the established norms imposed
by social constructs, i.e. religion, laws, parents
etc. surely they will reach a new dimension.
 J JUST Vol. 2 No. 1, December 2017
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2. M. Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of
Being, Harper Perennial Modern Classics,
New York, p-22,10,104,106. 1984.
3. P. Barry, Beginning Theory, Viva Books
Private Limited, New Delhi-Mumbai-
Chennai-Kolkata-Bangalore-Hyderabad-
Kochi-Guwahati, p-94. 2010.
108
4. W. Gibson, Neuromancer, Ace Books, New
York, p-3. 1984.
5. L. Tyson, Critical Theory Today, Routledge,
Taylor & Francis Group, 270 Madison
Avenue, New York, p-21. 2006
6. A. Miller, The Drama of Being a Child, Little,
Brown Book Group, London, p-99.1995
7. A.S. Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learner‟s
Dictionary of Current English, Oxford
University Press, Great Clarendon Street,
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