''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses
''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses ''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses
- 204 - the hospital scene acquires of course a new, or rather, an additional meaning. So far the moments V spends sitting by the patient's bedside have been interpreted as moments during which he attains knowledge of his brother. They must now also be seen as moments during which Sebastian comes to know himself. V attains his knowledge when he "becomes one" with Sebastian. Sebastian attains knowl- edge of himself when he "becomes one" with himself. Throughout his quest he has been split in two, as it were: V, a subject, looking at Sebastian, an object, a perfect paradigm of the "duality of subject and object in the phenomenon of self-consciousness". Self-knowledge comes at the moment at which this dichotomy is overcome; at which Sebastian-as-subject (V) no longer looks at Sebastian-as-object, but ex- periences himself as one; experiences the "root of I" in a mystical state of enlightenment and also ex- periences himself as part of the "Oneness of every- thing" in which "the root of 'I' is united to all other 'I's. "72 His death can now no longer be seen as actual physical death but is what Huxley calls "a dying to self" : The man who wishes to know the 'That' which is 'thou' may set to work in three different ways. He may begin by looking inwards into his own particular 'thou', and by a process of 'dying to self' - self in reasoning, self in willing, self in feeling - come at last to a knowledge of the Self... 73 71
- 205 - All those that knew Sebastian have described him as distant, silent, unsociable, morose, preoccupied, aloof. This can now be explained if one takes into account that the process described by Huxley involves complete concentration, to the exclusion of every- thing else, on the quest. V (or, as it now appears, Sebastian himself) at one point formulates the thoughts that may have occupied Sebastian during his time at Cambridge: The inner meaning of grassblade and star? The unknown language of silence? The terrific weight of a dewdrop? The heartbreaking beauty of a pebble among millions and millions of pebbles, all making sense, but what sense? The old, old question of who are you? to one's own self...? (46) Complete concentration on the last question, so central to the complex of thoughts and questions in Sebastian's works, means giving up all attachment to, and involve- ment in, mundane affairs;. all other feelings, interests, and desires cease to count. Only thus can the mind be prepared for the state and experience which brings enlightenment, and knowledge, and this, it appears, is how Sebastian attains that knowledge which he expresses in what are now no longer V's words: "I am Sebastian, or Sebastian is I... " (92): I am I, the only way in which his oneness can be expressed. With The Real Life of Sebastian Knight established as Sebastian's own book things that have been puzzling so far fall into place and take on a new meaning. The use of parody is now easier to understand and at the same time turns out to be even more complex than it seemed. What Sebastian wants is real knowl-
- Page 159 and 160: - 153 - part of it. Even with the i
- Page 161 and 162: - 155 - THE REAL LIFE OF SEBASTIAN
- Page 163 and 164: - 157. - consistent set of characte
- Page 165 and 166: - 159 - gathered from various sourc
- Page 167 and 168: - 161 - a very close one, and it se
- Page 169 and 170: - 163 - tiously follows all the mov
- Page 171 and 172: - 165 - go about it), behaving as i
- Page 173 and 174: - 167 - infinite trouble what he co
- Page 175 and 176: - 169 - What were the things that r
- Page 177 and 178: - 171 share", as a good biographer
- Page 179 and 180: - 173 - seems to him too colourless
- Page 181 and 182: 175 - parody of what Stegner calls
- Page 183 and 184: - 177 - that lead to it, he is sing
- Page 185 and 186: - 179 - the time during which he li
- Page 187 and 188: - 181 - France. He is tormented by
- Page 189 and 190: - 183 - on the last page of the nov
- Page 191 and 192: - 185 - what he wants to find, that
- Page 193 and 194: - 187 - would not see him. Somewhat
- Page 195 and 196: - 189 - he falls back on passages f
- Page 197 and 198: - 191 - ticism as one possible way
- Page 199 and 200: - 193 - The passages betray not onl
- Page 201 and 202: - 195 - This "mental jerk" grants k
- Page 203 and 204: - 197 - clear, and the harmony and
- Page 205 and 206: - 199 - initiated the insight. In l
- Page 207 and 208: - 201 - himself, and in it V appear
- Page 209: - 203 - novels of Sebastian Knight,
- Page 213 and 214: - 207 - in his opinion not have for
- Page 215 and 216: - 209 - others as his remoteness an
- Page 217 and 218: - 210 - THEDEFENCE R. H. W. Dillard
- Page 219 and 220: - 212 - his own future, and it beco
- Page 221 and 222: - 214 - Unlike Shade, however, Luzh
- Page 223 and 224: - 216 - has recognized as the basic
- Page 225 and 226: - 218 - The sensitive reader dislik
- Page 227 and 228: - 220 - The individual parts have p
- Page 229 and 230: - 222 - for the overall comic effec
- Page 231 and 232: - 224 - Americans of today. "24 He
- Page 233 and 234: - 226 - learn anything, to wrap it
- Page 235 and 236: - 228 - exhausted. Kinbote uses it
- Page 237 and 238: - 230 - (24-25). He talks about how
- Page 239 and 240: - 232 - "Parents" (1,71), "my bedro
- Page 241 and 242: - 234 - commentary, and they also o
- Page 243 and 244: - 236 - forbidden knowledge of whic
- Page 245 and 246: - 238 - than he thought it was46: B
- Page 247 and 248: - 240 - following the road of its r
- Page 249 and 250: - 242 - actually sees Kinbote, lose
- Page 251 and 252: - 244 - emerges that the man whom h
- Page 253 and 254: - 246 - sions, shows that even the
- Page 255 and 256: - 248 - superficially is about. He
- Page 257 and 258: - 250 - "really" Kinbote who has wr
- Page 259 and 260: - 252 - standing' of the poem do no
-<br />
205<br />
-<br />
All those that knew Sebastian have described him<br />
as distant, silent, unsociable, morose, preoccupied,<br />
aloof. This can now be explained if one takes into<br />
account that the process described by Huxley involves<br />
complete concentration, to the exclusion of every-<br />
thing else, on the quest. V (or, as it now appears,<br />
Sebastian himself) at one point <strong>for</strong>mulates the thoughts<br />
that may have occupied Sebastian during his time at<br />
Cambridge:<br />
The inner meaning of grassblade and star?<br />
The unknown language of silence? The terrific<br />
weight of a dewdrop? The heartbreaking<br />
beauty of a pebble among millions and<br />
millions of pebbles, all making sense, but<br />
what sense? The old, old question of who<br />
are you? to one's own self...? (46)<br />
Complete concentration on the last question, so central<br />
to the complex of thoughts and questions in Sebastian's<br />
works, means giving up all attachment to, and involve-<br />
ment in, mundane affairs;. all other feelings, interests,<br />
and desires cease to count. Only thus can the mind<br />
be prepared <strong>for</strong> the state and experience which brings<br />
enlightenment, and knowledge, and this, it appears,<br />
is how Sebastian attains that knowledge which he<br />
expresses in what are now no longer V's words:<br />
"I am Sebastian, or Sebastian is I... " (92): I am I,<br />
the only way in which his oneness can be expressed.<br />
With The Real Life of Sebastian Knight established<br />
as Sebastian's own book things that have been puzzling<br />
so far fall into place and take on a new meaning.<br />
The use of parody is now easier to understand and<br />
at the same time turns out to be even more complex<br />
than it seemed. What Sebastian wants is real knowl-
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