Chronicle-1995

said that paradox is a "sugar-coated contradiction with absurdity at its centre," and it is the absurdity of paradox which is central to the two novels which I shall be discussing this evening: Catch-22 and God Knows; both by Joseph Heller. God Knows was released twenty-three years after the publication of Catch-22. It is a narrative told from the point of view ofDavid ...that's King David ofthe Old Testament. Most people think only of David as the great warrior-king who united the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and slew the awesome Philistine warrior Goliath. The general pereeption of him is of a devout man of God, a gifted musieian who made Jerusalem into a religious centre, organized the temple choirs and wrote many psalms. He is the true superhero ofthe Old Testament. In sharp contrast. Heller's David is very human indeed,as evidenced by his moral weakness and intemal division. This David is an adulterer,a murderer and a schemer, his life is a failure and he has lost his God. The one who seemed so mighty is, in reality, pathetic and empty. Heller once again explores a paradox which accentuates humanity's inability to live a life in harmony with the values which we claim to hold dear. The fact that David promised so much and yet delivered so little prompts one to ask the question:" Has Joseph Heller's confrontation with the paradoxical nature of man's existence led him to seriously question mankind's ability to live without self-imploding and,in fact, destroying his relationship with the God that created him?" To begin, it is worth our while to reeall the classie and widely quoted paradox from Cateh-22 which mns as follows: the only way for a pilot to be removed from combat duty was to be declared insane, the catch, however, was that in order to be declared insane, he himself had to go and ask to be examined by the squadron medic, and ironically anyone with the presence of mind to do sueh a thing was,by definition, sane. It was therefore impossible to be removed from eombat duty. In answering the question that I have posed, I shall concentrate on the book God Knows. I shall also make afew introductory comments regarding Catch-22, which is a 'springboard'for the ideas of God Knows. In Catch-22, the bomber pilot Yossarian has an affair with the wife of Lieutenant Seheisskopf, a superior officer. He makes the following emphatic statement to her: "And don't tell me God works in mysterious ways, there's nothing so mysterious about it. He's not working at all. He's playing. Or else He's forgotten all about us." She,for some reason,retains an attaehment to the idea of a benevolent deity, as shown by this piece of dialogue: 'I thought you didn't believe in God,'said Yossarian. 'I don't,'she sobbed, bursting violently into tears,'But the God I don't believe in is a good God,a just God,a mereiful God. He's not the mean and stupid God you make him out to be.' We all have a deep-seated need to believe in something beyond ourselves; a need that bypasses reason, hence the absurdity of the above paradox. Lieutenant Seheisskopf's wife believes in, and defends, a God that she does not believe in. In Catch-22, this absurdity is in the form of humour. However, in God Knows, Heller places an altogether more serious question mark over God's role in our lives. Heller begins God Knows by demystifying the one-sided superhero and if Heller's version of the story is to be believed, David spent most of his time doing exactly what David wanted to do. The work of being God's chosen leader of all Israel was no small task. It was a natural consequence that David should fall prey to illusions of grandeur. He very quickly lost his sense of humility and it is very noticeable that the advice he got from God always seemed to be exactly what David wanted to hear. The following supposed eonversation between David and God is a good example: 'Should I go down in Keilah and save the city?'I asked while still a fugitive in Judah.'Go down to Keilah and save the eity,' He answered helpfully. 'Should I go up into Hebron in Judah and allow the elders to crown me king?'I asked....'Why not?' God obliged me in reply." This alone may be too ridiculous to believe, but the conversation beeomeseven more absurd and laughable: 'Will Saul come down to Keilah after me as Thy servant believes?''You bet your ass.' said the Lord. 'And will the men of Keilah deliver us unto the hand of Saul?''It's funny you should ask.' This is not really the way in whieh the almighty God of the Old Testament would speak to His subjeets. The obvious question is whether or not these imagined eonversations with God were anything more than David's subconscious telling him things that he wanted to hear. This introduces the first paradox of God Knows: it seems the more David thought that he was hearing and obeying God's commandments, the more he was simply following his own selfish ambitions. It is a very dangerous thing when the actions of an ambitious man such as David can be justified by citing the voice of God. God is the convenient seapegoat if things go wrong. David's seeond major failing is his sueeumbing to the temptation of adultery and his committing murder to cover his traeks.He is told by his prophet that God has forgiven him, but that the son bom of his sexual relations with Bathsheba, will die. 62 Kearsney Chronicle 1995

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