The Unbearable Lightness of Being

As Tomáš reflects on the Czechoslovak people’s growing dissatisfaction with communism, he is struck by a connection to the Oedipal myth: Many communist officials have begun to proclaim their innocence about the atrocities committed by the government: Because they were not aware of most of these crimes, they will not accept blame for the deaths of innocent civilians after show trials. Tomáš, however, argues that Oedipus, when he became aware of his own crimes, did feel guilt and punished himself by gouging his eyes out. Tomáš’s analogy appears in essay form in a dissident paper during the spring of 1968 and garners unwanted attention. Although he’d been speaking metaphorically, the government reads his words literally and understands his essay to be calling for communist officials to gouge their own eyes out. He does manage to escape the secret police while he and Tereza are in Zurich, but upon his return he is asked to retract his article. He refuses, losing his position at the hospital as a consequence.

He first obtains work in a country hospital and then is able to move to a clinic closer to Prague. He is visited again by the secret police, but this time the representative is more insistent.